L23 Re St 1010 Western Civilization I

This course is a history of Western civilization from 3500 BC to AD 1600. Western civilization may be characterized as one long debate on the holy. In no other civilization did this debate about the limits of the sacred and the profane -- this constant effort at trying to grasp the divine through word and deed -- last continuously for more than 5000 years. To argue over the holy is to argue over the very nature of how to live a life, from the most mundane daily activity to the most sublime act of the imagination. It is to argue over how politics, economics, art, philosophy, literature, and religion are realized in a society. Apart from many types of polytheism, we study the three great world monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We study the ancient cultures of northern Africa and the eastern Mediterranean, the empires of Alexander the Great and imperial Rome, the Christianization of the Roman Empire and the rise of Islam, the early medieval world in the North Sea and the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople, the formation of Latin Christendom and the papal monarchy, the Crusades and the reaction of the Islamic lands, concepts of individuality, the persecution of Jews and heretics, chivalry and peasant servitude, the Mongol Empire, the Black Death and the devastation of the 14th century, the Renaissance in Italy and the Protestant reformation, the hunt for witches and the scientific revolution, and the medieval origins of the African diaspora and the European conquest of the Americas. What defined being human -- and so a man, a woman, or a child -- over five millennia? Fundamental questions of this course include the following: What is "Western civilization"? When do the characteristics defined as "Western" come together as a coherent phenomenon? What, then, is historical truth? This course (through lectures, reading primary sources, discussion sections, and essay writing) gives the student a learned background in almost 5000 years of history. This is an introductory course for the history major and minor.
Same as L22 History 101C

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 102 Thinking About Religion

Nearly everyone has had some experience with something they would call "religion," from at least a passing familiarity through the media to a lifetime of active participation in religious communities. But what do we actually mean when we use the word? What is a religion? What does it mean to call something a religion, or "religious"? And what does it mean to study religion, given the slipperiness of the concept itself? This course offers an introduction to the academic study of religion through a consideration of these questions: What is religion, and how can we study it? Do we need an answer to the first question to pursue the second? Why, and toward what ends, might we undertake such study? We will also consider what is at stake in our investigation and inquiry into religion — for the inquirers, for the subjects of inquiry, and for society more broadly — and what kind of lens the study of religion offers us on ourselves, our neighbors, and society, in turn. To these ends, we will discuss major theoretical approaches to the study of religion and significant work on religions and religious phenomena, toward a better understanding of what "religion" might be and how it might be studied today. No prior knowledge or experience of religion, religions, or anything religious is expected or required. This course is required for religious studies majors and minors.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 1021 An Ancient Murder Mystery: The Death of Christ from the Gospels to Mel Gibson

When Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ" was released in 2004, it provoked a tremendous amount of public debate and divided Christians (Catholics and Protestants of all sorts) and Jews (Orthodox, Conservative, Liberal and Reform) in every possible combination. Although the virulence of the discussions may have given us the impression that this was a new issue, in reality the question of the Jews' role and involvement in Jesus' death has been disputed for almost two thousand years. The claim that the Jews are responsible for Christ's death is the subject of this class and we will study its history from the gospels to today using textual sources (historical, religious and literary works) and the visual arts (paintings and movies). But this class is not about who did or did not kill Jesus, nor is it about judging people's positions on the issue. Rather it is about the power of a story to travel through time and space, to being told and retold in different versions and with different purposes, and to affect the real lives of men and women. First-Year Seminar; Course is for first-year, non-transfer students only.
Same as L22 History 1021

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 1200 Religious Freedom in America

The intersection of religion and law in American society has sparked some of the fiercest cultural engagements in recent memory: Should a for-profit religious corporation have a right not to fund birth control for its employees? Can a public college expel campus religious groups whose membership is not open to all students? May a Muslim in prison grow a beard for religious reasons? Should a cake baker or a florist be permitted to refuse services for a gay wedding? Can a church hire and fire its ministers for any reason? These current debates and the issues that frame them are interwoven in the American story. This course introduces students to the major texts and historical arguments underlying that story. Drawing from the respective expertise of the instructors, the course will expose students to a variety of scholarly methods related to the issue: legal history and case law, intellectual history and canonical texts, social history and narrative accounts, and political philosophy and contemporary analyses. This course is for first-year (non-transfer) students only.
Same as I60 BEYOND 120

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 156 First-Year Seminar: This Secular Age: Religion and Politics in Literature

Reading courses, each limited to 15 students. Topics: selected writers, varieties of approaches to literature, e.g., Southern fiction, the modern American short story, the mystery; consult Course Listings. Prerequisite: first-year standing.
Same as L14 E Lit 156

Credit 3 units. A&S: FYS A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 180 First-Year Seminar in Religious Studies

This course is for freshmen only. The topic varies from semester to semester. Recent topics include Miracles; Sexuality in Early Christianity; and The Self in Chinese Thought.

Credit 3 units. A&S: FYS A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 189 Beginning Coptic II

After completing the remaining grammar lessons from Beginning Coptic I, we will build skill and confidence as translators by reading selections from a variety of Coptic texts: the Sahidic Gospel of Mark, the hagiographic "Life of John the Monk," selections from the Gospels of Mary and Thomas, and a unique Coptic translation of Plato's "Republic." In our readings from the Bible and Plato, those who read Classical Greek will also have the opportunity to study how ancient translators chose to render the Greek texts into Egyptian and how, in the process of translation, they changed the meaning of the originals. Prerequisite: Classics 188 or permission of instructor.
Same as L08 Classics 189

Credit 4 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 2010 Religion and American Society

This course explores religious life in the United States in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Comprehensive coverage of such a diverse landscape is not our goal. Rather, we will focus on some of the basic social categories that organize our society and that make religion a social phenomenon. How do religious belief and practice relate to race, class, or gender? How do we understand the role of religion in relation to region and space? How can we understand the many different stories that Americans tell about their own country as a special-even sacred-place? Major themes include religion and race; nation, land, and migration; religion, class, and money; evangelicalism and the religious right; business, class, and prosperity; religion and gender; religious nationalism; and the enduring challenges of religious multiplicity in the U.S.
Same as L57 RelPol 201

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 2030 Arch City Religion: Global Religion & Public Life in St. Louis

The Midwest is the crossroads of America, situated between the Atlantic and Pacific and bridging North and South. Sometimes extolled as the "Heartland," other times derided as "Flyover Country," the Midwest has been a major driver of industrial, economic, and political change in the United States since the early nineteenth century. This course looks at the religious worlds of the Midwest, from Russian Orthodox Christian auto workers in Detroit to Syrian Muslim peddlers in Indianapolis, Jewish merchants in Cincinnati to North African meatpackers in Iowa, and the Italian Catholic grocers here on The Hill, amongst others. Together we will explore the Midwest as a dynamic place of religious encounter, experimentation, and reinvention, a rich liminal space between East and West which has fostered some of the most dynamic and diverse religious communities in the United States.
Same as L57 RelPol 203

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 2062 Sophomore Seminar in History

This course is a sophomore seminar in history; topics vary per semester. Prerequisite: sophomore standing.
Same as L22 History 2062

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 207 Scriptures and Cultural Traditions: Text & Tradition

When we think of the word "scripture" in antiquity, we might think of the texts that have been compiled in the different holy books that we currently have today. Yet the function of "scriptures" within a community, and the status given to different texts treated as "scriptural," has changed in different times and places. In this course, we will consider texts that would eventually come to be part of the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and the Qu'ran as well as several of the exegetes and reading communities that shaped their various interpretations. We will explore how non-canonical sources played a role in the formation of the various canons we have today, comparing the authoritative status given to these texts to that given to other works from antiquity, such as the epics of Homer. Special attention will be played to the role of the receiving community in the development of "scripture," and the variety of the contexts in which scripture can function in the construction of and opposition to religious authority.
Same as L93 IPH 209

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 208F Introduction to Jewish Civilization: History and Identity

The anthropologist Clifford Geertz once famously invoked Max Weber in writing that "man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun. I take culture to be those webs." The main goal of this course — designed as an introduction to Jewish history, culture, and society — is to investigate the "webs of significance" produced by Jewish societies and individuals, in a select number of historical periods, both as responses to historical circumstances and as expressions of Jewish identity. Over the course of the semester, we focus on the following historical settings: seventh-century BCE Judah and the Babylonian exile; pre-Islamic Palestine and Babylonia (the period of the Mishnah and the Talmud); Europe in the period of the Crusades; Islamic and Christian Spain; Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries; North America in the 20th century; and the modern State of Israel. For each period, we investigate the social and political conditions of Jewish life; identify the major texts that Jews possessed, studied, and produced; determine the non-Jewish influences on their attitudes and aspirations; and explore the efforts that Jews made to define what it meant to be part of a Jewish collective.
Same as L75 JIMES 208F

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 210 The Good Life Between Religion and Politics

What constitutes a life well lived? How do we imagine answers to that question? Who gets to answer that question for us? Do we ask it as an "us" or as an individual? This course considers the way religious and political thought has shaped considerations of the classical ethical question of how we should live and the way that ethics has often served to connect religion and politics in thought and practice. Do we need a religious basis to answer ethical questions, or can we determine how to live without religious sources of authority? Is ethics a project of an individual or of communities? If the latter, are these political communities, religious ones, or something else? On what basis or with what capacities can we imagine new answers to ethical questions, either in community or on our own? We will discuss these questions and more through a consideration of a range of answers to the question of how we should live.
Same as L57 RelPol 210

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 210C Introduction to Islamic Civilization

A historical survey of Islamic civilization in global perspective. Chronological coverage of social, political, economic and cultural history are balanced with focused attention to special topics, which include: aspects of Islam as religion; science, medicine and technology in Islamic societies; art and architecture; philosophy and theology; interaction between Islamdom and Christendom; Islamic history in the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia as well as Africa; European colonialism; globalization of Islam and contemporary Islam.
Same as L75 JIMES 210C

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 224 Islamic Religion: An Introduction

Survey of the development of Islamic practice and thought from the emergence of Islam in early seventh century CE to the present.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD BU: ETH, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 225 Religion and Politics in American History

Throughout the twentieth century, the state was a critical arbiter over what constituted religion and religious practice in the United States. Molded by evolving notions of race, ethnicity, gender, the family, citizenship, and social inclusion, a variety of communities and institutions have strained against state perceptions of their practices and beliefs. This course traces such contestations from the turn of the twentieth century through the dawn of the new millennium. Case studies such as the Moorish Science Temple, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and the Nation of Islam, among others, will guide our conversation on changing definitions of "religion" and "the state" in the US.
Same as L57 RelPol 225

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA EN: H

L23 Re St 2300 Black-Jewish Relations in the United States

The relationship of blacks and Jews in the United States is at once intimate and strained, mutually beneficial and antagonistic. This course examines this uneasy alliance from a number of perspectives including anthropology, politics and identity politics, history, religion and class. Beginning with American anthropology's Jewish founding father, Franz Boas, challenging the concept of race, the course traces the relations of blacks and Jews throughout the 20th century and in our contemporary moment. We will pay particular attention to the civil rights era, which is commonly upheld as the golden age of black-Jewish relations, as well as to this alliance's unraveling in the post-civil rights era. The course then moves to a unit focused on more recent ruptures and collaborations including the 1991 Crown Heights race riots, during which Orthodox Jews clashed with their black neighbors, and Jewish involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement. The course concludes with a unit on identity and identity politics focused on the complexity and fluidity of the categories "white," "black" and "Jewish."
Same as L57 RelPol 230

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC, SD BU: BA EN: H

L23 Re St 235 Puritans and Revolutionaries: Religion and the Making of America

This course concerns the history of colonial America from early English settlement and encounters among English and Native Americans to revolution against Great Britain. The making of colonial America involved encounters and exchanges among various people groups-Puritans, Indigenous communities, German Moravians, English liberal thinkers with different ideas about politics-with different political convictions. This course explores those encounters, with a focus especially on Puritan and evangelical missions to Native Americans, southern plantation society and race-based slavery, English notions of religious liberty, and how ideas of political liberty, including rationales for American Independence, conflicted with, criticized, or stood as contradictions to English treatment of Indigenous and African peoples. We will read primary texts that illumine new perspectives on these issues. There is no defining argument or ideological "point" to the course but, rather, a series of observations of how different social, political, and intellectual variables made for shifting understandings of what religious ideas mattered to public life in America and how those ideas ought to shape civil affairs. As we examine these understandings, we will pay attention especially to Anglo-Indigenous interactions, the rise of a national self-consciousness that invested America with great historical purpose, the development of different responses to racial difference in America, and the disestablishment of religion from national political power (encoded in the First Amendment to the Constitution).
Same as L57 RelPol 235

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM BU: BA EN: H

L23 Re St 236F Introduction to East Asian Religions

This introductory course provides a basic, yet systematic, overview of certain major religious traditions that evolved in East Asia, particularly in China and Japan, but also in Korea. We begin with the classical Chinese traditions of Confucianism and Daoism, then turn our attention to Buddhism, which originated in India (ca. 500 BCE) and was later introduced into China (first century CE), Korea (fourth century CE) and Japan (sixth century CE). We then examine the Japanese tradition of Shinto, and focus more specifically upon the development of new Japanese forms of Buddhism. The course ends with a brief look at the coming of some of these religions to the West, and in particular the United States.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 2400 Jewish Political Thought

This course uses the concepts of political theory to explore the diverse Jewish political tradition. While this tradition includes writing from and about the three historical periods of Jewish self-rule (including the modern state of Israel), most of the Jewish political tradition comes from the understanding of politics as viewed from outsiders to mainstream communities. Additionally, Jewish political thought can be found through a Jewish community's self-understanding based on its interpretation of Jewish text and law by which it bound itself. Because we span over 2,000 years of recorded history, we will not attempt to discern a single "Jewish political thought" but rather look at JPT through the lens of familiar concepts of political theory. The fundamental questions we will explore are the relationship of the Jewish tradition to concepts such as authority, law, consent, sovereignty and justice. We will ask how the Jewish tradition views government and the relationship between the authority of God and the authority of temporal powers. We will explore these questions through a range of materials that include both primary and secondary literature.
Same as L57 RelPol 240

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM BU: BA EN: H

L23 Re St 2401 First-Year Seminar: Sex and the Bible

What does the Bible say about sex and sexual desire? Gender and gender identity? Bodies and bodily pleasure? This class critically examines sex, gender, and sexuality as they are constructed in the Bible. We will consider biblical ideas of sexuality and desire, laws regulating sex and the body, homoeroticism and homosexuality, trans representation, the portrayal of women, and queer characters and moments in the Bible. We will also explore how key biblical texts about gender and sexuality (Adam and Eve, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Whore of Babylon, etc) have been interpreted over time. Our methods of interpretation will include feminist, womanist, postcolonial, queer, and trans reading strategies; biblical texts will come from both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. This class is for first-year, non-transfer students only.

Credit 3 units. A&S: FYS A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 244 Religion and Music in American Culture

In this course, students will examine public discourse on popular music as a way of understanding questions of religious identity and community formation. Through case studies ranging from the Pueblo Indian dance controversy of the 1920s to post-9/11 disputes about the Islamic call to prayer, students will consider how debates over what "counts" as sacred or secular music reveal disputes over notions of religious authority and authenticity in American culture.
Same as L57 RelPol 244

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, HUM

L23 Re St 2450 Love and Reason

Love often seems dramatically unreasonable, and reason can seem coldly rational in a way that excludes any emotion, passion, or affiliation even akin to love. The supposed opposition between love and reason has been used by Christian and secular thinkers throughout modernity to organize ways of knowing and judging, and to criticize claims of faith, belief, and desire. But are love and reason really so distinct? What does it mean to say so, and why might someone make this claim? Can love be reasoned, and even reasonable? Can reason be aided by love, and even driven by it? How might different answers to these questions affect our understanding of other possibly unreasoned categories like faith, belief, and piety? This course offers an introduction to modern Christian thought and Western philosophy through these questions and themes.
Same as L57 RelPol 245

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 248 Religion, Health, and Wellness in Modern America

Religion, Health, and Wellness in Modern America will examine changing conceptions of health and wellness in America from the late nineteenth-century to the present. With media, artifacts, and literature drawn from the histories of medicine, religion, and capitalism, this class will cover the proliferation of alternative health regimens, the rise of the medical establishment, claims of divine healing, and the impact of market forces on wellness cultures. Course topics include the raced and gendered dynamics of care, socioeconomic status, technological innovation and media, the role of nature, health activism and radical self-care, and New Age spirituality and mental health. Special attention will be paid to how the politics of the body and its regulation intersect with religious and consumer practices in the modern wellness industry
Same as L57 RelPol 248

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 2500 Zionism

Zionism is often thought of as a commitment to the principle that the Jewish People, as a distinct "people," has a right to self-determination in its own historical land of the biblical Palestine. Yet the history of the term and the set of ideologies show a much more complex understanding. In this course we trace the emergence of a number of different "Zionisms" that would lead to the creation of the modern state of Israel. And we explore how the political principles at the core of these ideologies have fared in the 65 years since the founding of the modern Jewish state. The course is at its heart applied political theory: a case study of the way that ideas emerge from historical events, take on a life of their own, and then shape real outcomes in the world. The readings will weave together history, philosophy, literature and government.
Same as L57 RelPol 250

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: LCD, SSC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA EN: S

L23 Re St 253 Catholicism Confronts Modernity: A Global History from the French Revolution to Pope Francis

This course explores how the Catholic Church confronted the challenges of modernity-from liberal democracy and human rights; to capitalism and modern science; to fascism and communism. We will examine also how Catholicism itself has shaped modern politics and culture. The course will draw from the experience of Catholics in different countries (with no pretense of being exhaustive) over the past two centuries. We will begin with the French Revolution and the first "culture wars" between Catholics and liberals and end with the ambivalent legacies of Vatican II. We will appreciate how US Catholicism cannot be fully understood without reference to this global context.
Same as L57 RelPol 252

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 255 Religion, Environmentalism, and Politics

This course explores the intersections of anthropology, theology, economic interests, and activism. We will draw on a range of sources including social-scientific theories about religion and ritual, discussions of disenchantment and re-enchantment, and indigenous claims to land. These theoretical frameworks will provide context for discussing contemporary religious responses to ecological disaster, including both environmentalist and anti-environmentalist movements.
Same as L57 RelPol 255

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA EN: H

L23 Re St 2600 Religion in the African-American Experience: A Historical Survey

This course introduces students to important themes in the history of African-American, and thus in American, religious history, among them slavery, emancipation, urbanization, migration, consumer culture, sexuality, politics and media technologies. Primary attention is given to Afro-Protestantism in North America and the cultural, social and religious practices and traditions of these black communities. However, students will also be introduced to specific expressions of religious diversity and varying religious traditions and practices in African-American communities.
Same as L57 RelPol 260

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC, SD BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 280 African-American Religions

This course is an introduction to African-American religions. It attends to the changes wrought in indigenous African religions by enslavement, the adoption of Christianity (and severe critiques of it) by slaves themselves, the building of African-American denominations, the rise of new Black religious movements, and the role of religion in contemporary African-American life. At every stage of the course, religion is discussed with reference to key political developments in broader African-American history and African diasporic history. The course proceeds in three parts. It begins with a brief introduction to key themes and problems in the study of African-American religions. For example, is there such thing as a "Black church," and how does the study of African-American religion differ from the study of other religious groups or traditions? The second part, which makes up the bulk of the course, moves chronologically and situates African and African-American religions in their shifting cultural and political contexts from the beginning of the European slave trade to the present. We will discuss African-Americans' practice of several religious traditions: creole African religions, Islam, Protestant and Catholic Christianity, and new religious movements. The final part of the course focuses on several key issues and debates that are informed by the study of African-American religions and that have important connections with contemporary American life.
Same as L57 RelPol 280

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, ETH, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 285 Islam in America

This course explores various Muslim discourses and practices in America with a special focus on the intersections of race, gender, and religion. In this course, students will first study the history of Islam and Muslims in America in light of the narratives of enslaved West African Muslims and some of the early narratives of immigrant Muslims. Students will then explore some later historical narratives that represent the impact of religious and racial structures on identity formations, such as the formation of the Nation of Islam, and transnational religious connections in Cold War America. Students will also examine the construction of Muslim identities and institutions in light of some of the US structures and discourses about Islam and Muslims, with regard to the racialization of Muslims, and in connection to the broader Americas. Students will also use popular culture as a site to observe the intersection of race, religion, and gender in Muslim practices.
Same as L57 RelPol 285

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, ETH, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 288 Muslims in the Media and Popular Culture

In the post-9/11 context of the United States, Muslims have been a constant presence in news media, typically cast in a negative light as political others who are backwards, threatening, and inherently prone to violence. This pattern has long been replicated in films in which Muslims serve as static and dehumanized perpetrators of violence and/or as symbols of a backwards and depraved culture, antithetical to U.S. values and interests. In recent years, however, Muslims have become increasingly visible in the entertainment industry as protagonists and producers of their own media, including G. Willow Wilson's "Ms. Marvel," Hulu's "Ramy," and Netflix's "Man Like Mobeen." This course explores a selection of recent media projects created by Muslim writers, actors, musicians, and comedians. We will be pairing films, television shows, music, and comics with scholarship on Islam and religion in the media to analyze Muslim representation and storytelling in contemporary popular culture. We will evaluate these works on their own terms, noting the ways in which gender and racial hierarchies dictate who gets to represent American Muslims while also assessing how these new media both disrupt and further reify Muslims' construction as religious and political outsiders.
Same as L57 RelPol 288

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, ETH

L23 Re St 290 Islamophobia & U.S. Politics

The presence of Muslim minorities in the West is increasingly divisive as political leaders appeal to voters' fear of the 'Other' to promote Islamophobic agendas that reshape immigration and asylum policies and redefine Western identity as Christian. Politicians further exploit the rise of extremist groups like ISIS to justify anti-Muslim rhetoric and critique multiculturalism, claiming that Islam and the West are inherently antithetical. In this course we examine the phenomenon of Islamophobia as a form of anti-Muslim racism that parallels hostility towards other religious and racial minorities in the US. We explore how while the post-9/11 context gave way to an increase in incidents of anti-Muslim violence, contemporary manifestations of Islamophobia are deeply rooted in state level anti-black racism from the early twentieth century, as well as in anti-Muslim attitudes that date back to the colonial period. By examining academic literature, political speeches, and news media sources, we situate Islamophobia within its historical context and also analyze how US anxieties about Islam and Muslims are not only gendered and racialized, but also exist across the political spectrum.
Same as L57 RelPol 290

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 300 Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament

The Hebrew Bible is the foundational text of Judaism and Christianity. It is a complex compilation of materials, reflecting great diversity in ideology, literary expression, social and political circumstances, and theology. In this course, we shall read a significant amount of the Bible in English translation. We shall study the various approaches that have been taken by scholars in trying to understand the Bible in its historical context. We shall also study how the Bible was traditionally interpreted by Jews and Christians during the last two thousand years.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3012 Biblical Law and the Origins of Western Justice

This course will explore how law developed from the earliest periods of human history and how religious ideas and social institutions shaped law. The course will also illuminate how biblical law was influenced by earlier cultures and how the ancient Israelites reshaped the law they inherited. It will further analyze the impact of biblical law on Western culture and will investigate how the law dealt with those of different social classes and ethnic groups, and we will probe how women were treated by the law.
Same as L75 JIMES 3012

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD BU: ETH, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 303 Daoist Traditions

This course offers an introduction to the history, practices and worldviews that define the Daoist traditions. Through both secondary scholarship and primary texts, we consider the history of Daoism in reference to the continuities and discontinuities of formative concepts, social norms, and religious practices. Our inquiry into this history centers on consideration of the social forces that have driven the development of Daoism from the second century to the modern day. Special consideration is given to specific Daoist groups and their textual and practical traditions: the Celestial Masters (Tianshi), Great Clarity (Taiqing), Upper Clarity (Shangqing), Numinous Treasure (Lingbao), and Complete Perfection (Quanzhen). Throughout the semester we also reflect on certain topics and themes concerning Daoist traditions. These include constructions of identity and community, material culture, the construction of sacred space, and cultivation techniques.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3030 Love Songs and Laptops: Rediscovering Medieval Music in the Digital Age

Using our laptops as portals into the past, students will gain first-hand experience as historical detectives. In this course, we will explore the world of medieval love — from the chivalrous and courtly to the bodily and obscene — as represented in books of songs from the 15th century. Scrumptiously decorated and preserved, five interrelated songbooks from central France, known as the "Loire Valley Chansonniers" contain the majority of love songs from this period. Working from digitized versions of the songbooks, online editions, and modern audio recordings, we will address the following questions: What do the songbooks tell us about the culture in which they were created? How do the graphic decorations that frame each song interact with its music and lyrics? Lastly, by contextualizing these digital sources with respect to the growing interest in the interface between the humanities and digital technology, we will discuss what we can gain from these developments and what — if anything — we stand to lose. (Ability to read music not required.)
Same as L27 Music 3030

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: CPSC, HUM BU: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3031 Christianity in the Modern World

Survey of Christianity since the Reformation. Focus on the divisions in Christianity, its responses to modern science, the rise of capitalism, and European expansion into Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Attention to ecumenism and the contemporary status of Christianity in the world.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3033 Religion and Healing

This course explores the relationship between religion and healing through historical and comparative study of Christian, Jewish and other religious traditions. We will examine how specific religious worldviews influence conceptions of the body and associated healing practices, how states of health and disease are identified and invested with religious significance, and how religious thought contributed to and coexisted alongside the growth of modern Western medicine. While much of the course will draw on specific case studies, students will be encouraged to pursue their own interests in the area of religion and healing through final projects.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3035 Antisemitism: History, Causes, Consequences

Why do people hate other people? Why have religion, race, gender, ethnicity and so on led to sectarian violence with terrifying regularity throughout history? Focused on antisemitism from Biblical times to today, this class will grapple with those questions. Please note: L75 5035 is intended for graduate students only.
Same as L75 JIMES 3035

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA EN: H

L23 Re St 3044 Humors, Pox, and Plague: Medieval and Early Modern Medicine

This course examines how people thought about, experienced and managed disease in the medieval and early modern periods. Students will consider developments in learned medicine alongside the activities of a diverse range of practitioners — e.g., surgeons, empirics, quacks, midwives, saints, and local healers — involved in the business of curing a wide range of ailments. Significant attention will be paid to the experiences of patients and the social and cultural significance of disease. Major topics include: the rise and fall of humoral medicine; religious explanations of illness; diseases such as leprosy, syphilis and plague; the rise of anatomy; herbs and pharmaceuticals; the experience of childbirth; and the emergence of identifiably "modern" institutions such as hospitals, the medical profession, and public health. The focus will be on Western Europe but we'll also consider developments in the Islamic world and the Americas.
Same as L22 History 3044

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3050 Between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.: Race, Religion, and the Politics of Freedom

This course focuses on the political and spiritual lives of Martin and Malcolm. We will examine their personal biographies, speeches, writings, representations, FBI files, and legacies as a way to better understand how the intersections of religion, race, and politics came to bear upon the freedom struggles of people of color in the United States and abroad. The course also takes seriously the evolutions in both Martin and Malcolm's political approaches and intellectual development, focusing especially on the last years of their respective lives. We will also examine the critical literature that takes on the leadership styles and political philosophies of these communal leaders, as well as the very real opposition and surveillance they faced from state forces like the police and the FBI. Students will gain an understanding of what social conditions, religious structures and institutions, and personal experiences led to first the emergence and then the assassinations of these two figures. We will discuss the subtleties of their political analyses, pinpointing the key differences and similarities of their philosophies, approaches, and legacies; we will then apply these debates of the mid-20th century to contemporary events and social movements in terms of how their legacies are articulated and what we can learn from them in struggles for justice and recognition in 21st-century America and beyond.
Same as L57 RelPol 305

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA EN: H

L23 Re St 3051 Orthodoxy and Heresy in Early Christianity

From the time Jesus of Nazareth preached in the rural countryside of Judea, his followers interpreted his words differently and wrote varied accounts of what he said and did. As time passed and as Jesus' movement grew into a world religion — Christianity — disagreement among Christians only continued to increase, leading to the need to define and enforce correct beliefs and practices to create a Christian "orthodoxy" embodied in the now-familiar institutions of creed, canon, and clergy. Yet in the process of creating an orthodoxy, what was left out? Whose voices were suppressed? Through the careful study of ancient texts that were long-ago deemed heretical and virtually lost until the 20th century, this course examines the wide varieties of Christianity in its nascent years and discusses how the framers of orthodoxy defined themselves against these alternatives.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3065 Voice, Language and Power: Late Medieval Religious Writing

In the later Middle Ages, there is a flowering throughout Christian Europe of religious writings that offer a new voice in which personal religious experience can be pursued and expressed. Their voices are mainly intended to be communal ones, to be contained within the Church and regulated by it. But in each case the fact that it is a voice may offer a mode of resistance, or of difference. Such writing is often aimed at lay people, sometimes exclusively at women; and sometimes the intended auditors become the authors, and propose a version of religious experience that claims a new and more intimate kind of power for its readers. This course looks at a wide range of such writing in vernacular languages read in translation (English, French and German), including the work of Meister Eckhart, Marguerite Porete, Margery Kempe, Julian of Norwich, Eleanor Hull, the anonymous writer of The Cloud of Unknowing and the perhaps pseudonymous William Langland, author of Piers Plowman. Whether such writing seeks to be orthodox or conducive to heresy, it presents a challenge to the power of clergy — a challenge that is written in the vernacular language of lay people, rather than clerical Latin, and in doing so offers distinctively new voices for religious experience. The course will also look at ways in which such work might have been influenced, if only oppositionally or at times indirectly, by contact with Muslim and Jewish writing (including Jewish exegesis of the Psalms).

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3071 Solidarity and Silence: Religious Strategies in the Political Sphere

Although political action is often considered a problem of making oneself heard, religious practices of silence, self-effacement, and withdrawal from certain worldly struggles have guided many significant political and social movements, particularly forms of non-violent resistance. This course considers the role of religious thought and practice in such movements in the twentieth century. The history of these movements presents an apparent paradox: how can political action emerge from the supposedly "private" realm of religion in the modern era, particularly its most individualistic formations in contemplative and mystical practices? Does the historical role of these practices in the political sphere complicate their portrayal in some scholarship as private, individual, and depoliticizing? With these questions animating our investigations, we will consider the work of authors and activists including Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, Jr., Simone Weil, and William Barber, as well as the history of movements associated with their work. Toward the end of the semester, we will turn to contemporary movements against economic inequality, intimate violence, racially motivated violence, and discrimination toward transgender persons to discuss the use of religious strategies or religiously-derived strategies in current political and social activism.
Same as L57 RelPol 307

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3072 Literary Modernities in East Asia: Text & Traditions

This course will explore the complex forces at work in the emergence of modern East Asia through a selection of literary texts spanning fiction, poetry, and personal narrative. Our readings-- by Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese writers and poets-- will point to the distinctively different and dramatically-shifting circumstances of modern East Asian nations and peoples, as well as to their shared values and aspirations.
Same as L93 IPH 307

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3074 Hinduism and the Hindu Right

We are witnessing a global rise in rightwing politics, and India is no exception. In May 2019, Narendra Modi and his "Hindu Nationalist" party were elected to power for a second term. Observers in the United States and Europe may be stunned by what seems to be a new development, but observers in India have been following the rise of the Hindu Right since the early 1990s. In its wake, the Hindu Right has brought violence against minorities; curbs on free speech; and moves toward second-class citizenship for Indian Muslims. This course will track the history of the Hindu Right in India from its 19th-century roots to the present. The struggle to come to grips with the Hindu Right is of immediate political relevance. It also raises big questions about the history of religion and the politics of secularism.
Same as L22 History 3074

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 307F Introduction to the New Testament

What can be known — from an historical perspective — about the life and teachings of Jesus and his earliest followers? How did Jesus see himself and how did his followers see him? How did the lives, teachings and deaths of Jesus and his followers come to form the heart of a new movement? If Jesus and the apostles were all Jews, how did Christianity emerge as a distinct "religion"? This course investigates these questions through a focus on the earliest sources for Jesus and his first followers, including and extending beyond the canonical books of the Christian New Testament. Our approach in this course is historical and literary, rather than theological or confessional: We ask what Jesus, his first followers, and their Jewish and "pagan" contemporaries did and believed, and we try to catch glimpses of the worlds in which they lived and the cultures which they took for granted.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Art: HUM BU: HUM

L23 Re St 3080 City on a Hill: The Concept and Culture of American Exceptionalism

This course examines the concept, history, and culture of American exceptionalism — the idea that America has been specially chosen, or has a special mission to the world. First, we examine the Puritan sermon that politicians quote when they describe America as a "city on a hill." This sermon has been called the "ur-text" of American literature, the foundational document of American culture; learning and drawing from multiple literary methodologies, we will re-investigate what that sermon means and how it came to tell a story about the Puritan origins of American culture — a thesis our class will reassess with the help of modern critics. In the second part of this class, we will broaden our discussion to consider the wider (and newer) meanings of American exceptionalism, theorizing the concept while looking at the way it has been revitalized, redefined and redeployed in recent years. Finally, the course ends with a careful study of American exceptionalism in modern political rhetoric, starting with JFK and proceeding through Reagan to the current day, ending with an analysis of Donald Trump and the rise of "America First." In the end, students will gain a firm grasp of the long history and continuing significance — the pervasive impact — of this concept in American culture.
Same as L98 AMCS 3081

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM BU: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3082 From the Temple to the Talmud: The Emergence of Rabbinic Judaism

This course offers a survey of the historical, literary, social and conceptual development of Rabbinic Judaism from its emergence in late antiquity to the early Middle Ages. The goal of the course is to study Rabbinic Judaism as a dynamic phenomenon — as a constantly developing religious system. Among the topics  explored are: How did Judaism evolve from a sacrificial cult to a text-based religion? How did the "Rabbis" emerge as a movement after the destruction of the Second Temple and how could they replace the old priestly elite? How did Rabbinic Judaism develop in its two centers of origin, Palestine (the Land of Israel) and Babylonia (Iraq), to become the dominant form of Judaism under the rule of Islam? How did Jewish ritual and liturgy develop under Rabbinic influence? How were the Rabbis organized and was there diversity within the group? What was the Rabbis' view of women? How did they perceive non-Rabbinic Jews and non-Jews? As Rabbinic Literature is used as the main source to answer these questions, the course provides an introduction to the Mishnah, the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds, and the Midrash collections — a literature that defines the character of Judaism down to our own times. All texts are read in translation.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Art: HUM BU: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3090 Chinese Thought

This course offers an introduction to Chinese thought through a study of thinkers from arguably one of the most vibrant periods of religious-philosophical discourse in China. We will examine early classical texts from the Daoist, Confucian, Mohist, and Legalist traditions, and we will follow arguments in which the thinkers expand upon, dispute, and respond to each other in regard to questions that are still important to us today. We will explore issues such as notions of the self, conceptions of the greater cosmos, the role of rituals, ideas about human nature, and the subjects of freedom and duty. Motivating the course will be the underlying question, "What is the good life?"

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD BU: IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3091 Confucian Thought

This course is designed to introduce students to the history and teachings of one of the world's major religious traditions: Confucianism. We will examine how Confucianism developed in ancient China and afterwards spread throughout East Asia and beyond. In particular, we will pay attention to the issue of ritual and how Confucians attempted to ritualize social interactions and the world at large. In order to do so, we will engage in the writings of Confucius, Mengzi, and Xunzi, three early Chinese writers whose basic ideas about ritual heavily informed myriad cultural practices that are formative for large portions of East Asia today. Hence, this course on ancient thinkers not only introduces thoughts and practices prevalent throughout premodern China, Japan and Korea. It also functions as a catalyst that helps us understand some of the reasons and motivations behind these communities' recent efforts to renegotiate and question "the colonialist flavor" of human rights and democracy.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3100 Religion and Violence

Is religion intrinsically connected with violence or merely manipulated to justify political positions and incite supporters? How has religion been the motivation and justification behind violent conflict, aggression and persecution? Does religion have a greater power to make war or peace? People have debated these questions for centuries as believers waged war in the name of their god(s). We'll study several critical theories about religion and violence and test them on historical and recent "religious" conflicts. Our investigation will be organized around five types of violence: 1) martyrdom and redemptive suffering, 2) claims on sacred space, 3) the violence of social stratification and "othering," 4) war and 5) apocalyptic and spiritual warfare. Case studies ranging from early Christian martyrs and crusades to attacks on abortion clinics and Tokyo subways will help clarify patterns and types of religious violence.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: FAAM, HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3101 The Problem of Evil: The Holocaust and Other Horrors

The question of how God can allow evil to occur to the righteous or innocent people has been a perennial dilemma in religion and philosophy. We study the classic statement of the problem in the biblical book of Job, the ancient Near Eastern literature on which Job is based, and traditional Jewish and Christian interpretation of Job. We study the major approaches to the problem of evil in Western philosophical and religious thought.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3102 Defense Against the Dark Arts: An Anthropological Approach to the Study of Religion and Health

This class is a comparative survey of religion, magic, and witchcraft as they are related to concepts of the body, health, healing and death across cultures. As such, students in this class will be expected to simultaneously learn details from particular magical and healing traditions studied in class, as well as to relate these details to theories about within the discipline of Anthropology (medical, cultural, psychological) and the field of Religious Studies. Special themes addressed in the class are the reasonableness of belief in magic, religion and religious practice as "magical," the body and definitions of health, healing, and illness and disease as symbolically, culturally, even magically constructed and experienced.
Same as L48 Anthro 3100

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: LCD, SSC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA, ETH EN: S

L23 Re St 311 Buddhist Traditions

This course examines the historical development of Buddhism from its origins in South Asia in the sixth to fifth century BCE, through the transmission of the teachings and practices to East Asia, Southeast Asia and Tibet, to contemporary transformations of the tradition in the modern West. In the first third of the course, we focus on the biographical and ritual expressions of the historical Buddha's life story, the foundational teachings attributed to the Buddha, and the formation and development of the Buddhist community. In the second third, we examine the rise of the Mahayana, the development of the Mahayana pantheon and rituals, and the spread of Mahayana in East Asia. In the final third, we explore the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka and Thailand, then Tantric Buddhism in India, Tibet and East Asia. We close the course with an overview of Buddhism in the modern West.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H UColl: CD

L23 Re St 3110 Sacred Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent

The built structure remains a principal visible record of the evolution of a civilization and its culture. Through this interdisciplinary course on culture, art, design, religion and society, students will be introduced to and gain a deeper insight into the rich diversity of South Asia through the study of the architecture of its significant sacred places. We will take a journey through the Hindu, Jain and Buddhist Temples; the Islamic Mosque; the Sikh Gurudwara; the Zoroastrian Fire Temple; the Jewish Synagogue; and the Christian Church, tracing the evolution of these places of worship from the Indus Valley Civilization to Pre-Colonial times. Through visuals, readings, and discussions, students will learn about the different architectural styles and motifs used in sacred buildings and how they came about. We will explore the inter-relationships between the design elements through the lens of political, social, religious, regional, artistic, and technological influences and understand the ways in which evolving design principles reflect these influences overtime. This course will be of interest to students of languages and cultures, architecture, archeology, art history, history, preservation, religion, and South Asian culture, among others. Please note: At the end of the semester, students will go on a field trip to experience the diverse sacred architecture in the St. Louis region. No prior knowledge of architecture or the history of this region is required.
Same as L73 Hindi 311

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD BU: IS EN: H

L23 Re St 312 South Asian Religious Traditions

In this course we will learn the basic vocabulary (conceptual, ritual, visual) needed to become conversant with the various religious traditions that are important to personal, social, and political life on the Indian subcontinent and beyond. We will first encounter each tradition through narrative, with the support of visual media. We will then explore how contemporary adherents make these traditions meaningful for themselves — in their everyday lives, in their struggles for social change, and in their political statements and contestations. Students will also become familiar with the analytical categories and methodologies that make up the basic toolkit of the religion scholar. Prior knowledge of India or Pakistan is not required. FIrst year students are welcome to enroll in this course.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: IS EN: H UColl: CD

L23 Re St 3130 Sexuality in Early Christianity

What did Jesus of Nazareth and his early followers teach about sexuality in terms of marriage, adultery, divorce, the virtues of procreation and celibacy, same-sex relationships, and erotic desire? How and why did ancient Christians take different stances on these issues, and how do these traditions continue to inform sexual ethics and gender roles today? In this course, we will study these questions by examining key passages from the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels, Paul's letters, writings of early church leaders, martyr propaganda, monastic literature, and apocryphal books deemed heretical. We will also consider the interpretations of contemporary historians of religion informed by recent trends in sexuality and gender theories.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 313C Islamic History 622-1200

The cultural, intellectual, and political history of the Islamic Middle East, beginning with the prophetic mission of Muhammad and concluding with the Mongol conquests. Topics covered include: the life of Muhammad; the early Muslim conquests; the institution of the caliphate; the translation movement from Greek into Arabic and the emergence of Arabic as a language of learning and artistic expression; the development of new educational, legal and pietistic institutions; changes in agriculture, crafts, commerce and the growth of urban culture; multiculturalism and inter-confessional interaction; and large-scale movements of nomadic peoples.
Same as L22 History 313C

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3140 Global Circuits: Religion, Race, Empire

This seminar explores how American entanglements of race and religion shape and are part of larger global processes. Over the course of the semester, we will investigate these entanglements through conceptual, historical, and ethnographic questions about and insights into the remapping of religious traditions and communal experiences onto imperial terrain. We will examine this through a range of problem spaces, including colonial rule and racial hierarchies; religious difference and migration; the racialization of religion; diaspora and empire; persecution and power; and global geographies of the War on Terror. This course is not an exhaustive account of the enmeshment of race and religion in the United States or globally. Rather, this course aims to critically unpack formations of religion and race and their contemporary mediation by American geopolitics.
Same as L57 RelPol 314

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: LCD, SSC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA, ETH

L23 Re St 314C Islamic History 1200-1800

An introduction to Islamic politics and societies from the Mongol conquests to the 13th century to the collapse and weakening of the colossal "gunpowder" empires of the Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals in the early 18th century. Broadly speaking, this course covers the Middle Period (1000-1800) of Islamic history, sandwiched between the Early and High Caliphal periods (600-100) on the one hand and the Modern Period (1800-present) on the other hand. Familiarity with the Early and High Caliphal periods is not assumed. The course is not a "survey" of this period but a series of "windows" that allows students to develop both an in-depth understanding of some key features of Islamic societies and a clear appreciation of the challenges (as well as the rewards!) that await historians of the Middle Period. Particular attention is given to the Mamluk and Ottoman Middle East, Safavid Iran and Mughal India.
Same as L22 History 314C

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Art: HUM BU: HUM, IS

L23 Re St 315 Virtues, Vices, Values: Regulating Morality in Modern America

This course takes morality and the question of "what's right" seriously as a lens through which to understand and assess modern American history. "Morality" is, of course, a devilishly flexible rhetoric, a language invoked to tell people how to act and how to be good, or, conversely, to criticize and to shame. When the state or a community wants its citizens or members to be "good," it crafts laws and creates customs to encourage or inhibit behaviors. Yet "good" is a contested concept, especially in a diverse, multiracial society. Thus this class examines a) how state and non-state actors, including religious leaders, have attempted to regulate the lived experiences of Americans and b) the conflicts that emerge over what, exactly, is correct, or right, or good for individuals, society, and the state. To what degree does calling something moral or immoral articulate or obstruct policy solutions? What do political coalitions oriented around "values" accomplish? Is it possible to hew to moral frames and remain inclusive and tolerant? Topics may include marriage, abortion, immigration, alcohol, incarceration, disease, money, and medical care.
Same as L57 RelPol 315

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SD BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3160 Beauty & Aesthetics In Islam: Islamicate Literature, Material Art, & Architecture

This course provides an introduction to beauty and aesthetics in Muslim societies from across the world. The course focuses on Islamicate literature (e.g., poetry, narrative, biography), material art (e.g., textiles, ceramics, decorated manuscripts), and architecture (e.g., palaces, built gardens, mosques, mausoleums). Some attention is also given to performing arts (e.g., dance, music, plays, puppetry). Various types of material will be considered, ranging from religious to non-religious. Material will be drawn from across the Muslim world, including the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Although the course is primarily concerned with the premodern period, it will also consider the impact of modernity on Muslim literature, art, and architecture.
Same as L75 JIMES 3160

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM, VC BU: ETH, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3162 American Unbelief from the Enlightenment to the Present

This course examines American secularism, humanism, freethought, and atheism from the Enlightenment forward to the present. Topics to be explored include: the tensions between secular and Christian conceptions of the nation's founding, blasphemy and irreligious cartoons, the civil liberties of atheists and nontheists, the battles over religion in the public schools, atheism and gender politics, the culture wars over secular humanism, and the contemporary growth of the religiously disaffiliated or "nones." The course considers not only the intellectual dimensions of skeptical critiques of religion, but also the underlying politics of secularism (and anti-secularism) in a nation routinely imagined as "under God."
Same as L57 RelPol 3160

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM

L23 Re St 3171 Religion and Culture in South and Southeast Asia

Although it is now common to differentiate between South and Southeast Asia, historically these regions have often been conceptualized as part of a single geographical area. Known as the "(East) Indies", this area is marked by a rich history of (earlier) Hindu and Buddhist influences, as well as (later) Islamic and Christian influences. The present course will take an in-depth look at the four aforementioned religious traditions, and examine how they have shaped local forms of culture in premodern and modern times. Students will be introduced to host of phenomena in South and Southeast Asian societies, including religious worship, education, law, traditional governance, colonial governance, art, architecture, economic production, kinship, gender, and sexuality. Countries to be studied in the course include India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea.
Same as L73 Hindi 3171

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC, SD BU: ETH, IS

L23 Re St 3183 The Jews of North Africa

This course examines the colonial and postcolonial experiences of Jews living in North Africa (mainly Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt) in the context of the region's connections with and relationships to the European powers in the 19th and 20th centuries. We will focus on how the intrusion of foreign powers disrupted and shifted long-standing relationships between Jews and their non-Jewish neighbors, particularly the Muslim populations. We will also explore changes that occurred within the Jewish community as Jews negotiated their place within the new European Imperial system and its subsequent dismantling. Students will have the opportunity to engage with European ideas of "regenerating" North African Jews living under Ottoman Rule, the changing political and social statuses of Jews throughout the French and British regions, the changing relationship between Jews and their non-Jewish neighbors, the rupture caused by both World Wars, and how Jews coped with and responded to the dismantling of European empires and the birth of nation-states in the region, including Israel.
Same as L75 JIMES 3183

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3185 The Jewish Experience in the United States: A History of Exceptions and Exceptionalism

This course surveys American Jewish life from the colonial settlement of the new world to the present day with special emphasis on configurations of the Jewish Question in a variety of historical and geographical contexts. We will explore the paradox between American Jewish social and economic success over the last three and a half centuries and the sense of ambivalence many Jews feel toward their place in American society. As a class, we will consider key moments in American Jewish history, including the converso community that arrived alongside early spanish settlers, the role of jews in the slave trade and plantation complex, Jewish appeals for acceptance and equality within the American colonies and early republic, as well as how Jews coped with a divided union during the Civil War. We will analyze successive waves of Jewish immigration from different countries, the building of Jewish communal structures, and the evolution of Judaism and Jewish identity within the United States. Jewish contributions to American culture will also be an important focus of the class as we explore the birth of American popular culture through music, film, television, and fiction. Throughout the course we will be cognizant of the regional, religious, ethnic, racial, class, gender, and sexual differences that comprise American Jewish society from its early inception to the present. We will observe how Jews have been simultaneously welcomed as well as excluded from political, economic, and social realms of the American community. As often as possible we will engage in a multitude of case studies and primary sources so we can gain specific regional expertise, while maintaining a national, and often transnational lens for analyzing these central questions.
Same as L75 JIMES 3185

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3192 Modern South Asia

This course covers the history of the Indian subcontinent in the 19th and 20th centuries. We look closely at a number of issues including colonialism in India; anticolonial movements; the experiences of women; the interplay between religion and national identity; and popular culture in modern India. Political and social history are emphasized equally.
Same as L22 History 3192

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3201 Gender, Culture, and Madness

This course will explore the relationships among gender constructs, cultural values, and definitions of mental health and illness. Understandings of the proper roles, sensibilities, emotions, and dispositions of women and men are often culturally and morally loaded as indicators of the "proper" selves permitted in a given context. Across cultures, then, gender often becomes an expressive idiom for the relative health of the self. Gender identities or presentations that run counter to these conventions are frequently identified as disordered and in need of fixing. In this course, we will take up these issues through three fundamental themes: the social and cultural (re)production of gendered bodies and dispositions; the normalization of these productions and the subsequent location of "madness" in divergent or dissonant experiences of embodiment; and the situation of discourses of "madness" within debates of resistance and conformity, selfhood and agency.
Same as L48 Anthro 3201

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: BA, ETH EN: S

L23 Re St 321 American Religion and the Politics of Gender and Sexuality

Religious beliefs about gender and sexuality have long played a vital role in American politics, and this is vividly evident in debates over such issues as birth control, pornography, funding for AIDS research, abstinence-only sex education, sexual harassment, same-sex marriage, abortion, and more. Educated citizens need to understand the impact of these religiously inflected debates on our political culture. This course explores the centrality of sex to religion and politics in the United States, emphasizing Christianity (both Protestant and Catholic forms) and its weighty social and political role regulating the behavior of adults and children as well as its uses in legal and judicial decisions. Alongside scholarly readings in gender and sexuality, we will discuss popular devotional texts on gender and sexuality with a political bent. Students will leave the course able to analyze how religious beliefs about sex shape specific gender norms central to U.S. politics and the law.
Same as L57 RelPol 321

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 323 Jews and Christians in the Premodern World

In modern times, it is common to think of Judaism and Christianity as two distinct, if historically connected, "religions." Increasingly, however, historians of ancient religions have thought more deeply about the implications of taking Christianity and Judaism in antiquity as more fluid and porous than we tend to think of them. In this upper-division course, we will explore the ways in which the boundaries that early Christians attempted to draw between Christianity and Judaism remained unstable and incomplete. While the various efforts to establish early Christian identity led to the production of a variety of hermeneutical representations of the Judaioi, these literary representations nevertheless often reflected, to various degrees, engagement with actual historical Jews/Judeans, who shared political, economic, and intellectual worlds with Christians. We will consider how early Christian discourse about Jews and Judaism informed and was informed by intra-Christian disputes and their negotiations of their relationships with the wider Greco-Roman culture. We will explore how Christian efforts to establish both continuity and difference between Judaism played a role in the construction of "orthodoxy" and "heresy," as well as the way in which Christians re-appropriated Jewish texts, rituals and ideas in their efforts to construct a Christian identity. We will also explore how this continued dynamic of difference and continuity continued into the Middle Ages.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3232 Religion & Nationalism in the Middle East & South Asia

How does religion shape national identity? How and why do some religious traditions become intertwined with the identities of national communities, often at the expense of others? In this course we explore how Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Christianity have interacted with modern nationalism to shape the nation-states of the Middle East and South Asia in profound ways. Throughout the course, we examine a range of case studies to compare and contrast, for example, the complex interaction between religion and nationalism in the creation of Pakistan and Israel in 1947 and 1948 as Muslim and Jewish national homes, the rise of the Hindu Right in India, religion and race in Iran, or the significance of Christianity and Islam for Palestinians and Iraqis. As we do so, we investigate how national movements have selectively and creatively engaged religious traditions over time in order to redefine communal boundaries, narrate new histories, exclude minorities, and reread sacred texts to draw the borders of their national homelands, which have often overlapped at great cost.
Same as L75 JIMES 3232

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3262 The Early Medieval World 300-1000

This course begins with the crisis of the Roman Empire in the third century and the conversion of the Emperor Constantine to Christianity in 312. We will study the so-called "barbarian invasions" of the fourth and fifth centuries and the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West. The Roman Empire in the East (and commonly known as the Byzantine Empire after the seventh century) survived intact, developing a very different style of Christianity than in the lands of the former western empire. Apart from examining Christianization in the deserts of Egypt or the chilly North Sea, we will discuss the phenomenon of Islam in the seventh century (especially after the Prophet Muhammad's death in 632) and the Arab conquests of the eastern Mediterranean and north Africa. In the post-Roman world of the West we will read about the Anglo-Saxons, the Carolingians, and the Vikings. In exploring these topics we will have to think about the relationship of kings to popes, Emperors to patriarchs, of missionaries to pagans, of cities to villages, of the sacred to the profane. Our attention will be directed to things as various as different forms of monasticism, the establishment of frontier communities, the culture of the Arabian peninsula, magic, paganism, military tactics, Romanesque churches, sea travel, manuscript illumination, the architecture of mosques, early medieval philosophy, the changing imagery of Christ, holiness, and violence as a redemptive act.
Same as L22 History 3262

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD BU: HUM, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3277 Philosophy of Religion

This course focuses on debates concerning the existence of God as well as on special issues that arise within religion generally and also on some that arise within specific religious traditions. Topics include: the rationality of religious belief, the problem of evil, the coherence of theism, and the freedom-foreknowledge problem.
Same as L30 Phil 327

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3293 Religion and Society

We take a broad and practice-oriented view of "religion," including uttering spells, sacrificing to a god, healing through spirit possession, as well as praying and reciting scripture. We consider religious practices in small-scale societies as well as those characteristic of forms of Judaism, Islam, Christianity and other broadly based religions. We give special attention to the ways religions shape politics, law, war, as well as everyday life in modern societies.
Same as L48 Anthro 3293

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC Art: SSC BU: ETH EN: S

L23 Re St 329A Sociology of Religion

Same as L40 SOC 329

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: SSC, SC

L23 Re St 3300 Native American/Euro-American Encounters: Confrontations of Bodies and Beliefs

This course surveys the history and historiography of how Native Americans, Europeans and Euro-Americans reacted and adapted to one another's presence in North America from the 1600s to the mid-1800s, focusing on themes of religion and gender. We will examine the cultural and social implications of encounters between Native peoples, missionaries and other European and Euro-American Protestants and Catholics. We will pay particular attention to how bodies were a venue for encounter — through sexual contact, through the policing of gendered social and economic behaviors, and through religiously-based understandings of women's and men's duties and functions. We will also study how historians know what they know about these encounters, and what materials enable them to answer their historical questions.
Same as L57 RelPol 330

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3303 Topics in Chinese Lit & Culture: Three Streams: Major Religious Traditions in Pre-modern East Asia

This course invites students to assess China's rise from an environmental perspective. Since the founding of PRC, China has transformed the natural landscape through the accelerating extraction of resources to facilitate the country's pursuit of power and wealth. While China redirected its rivers, levelled its mountains, and cultivated expanses of barren land, a set of cultural expressions also emerged to compel, reflect, and document the environmental changes and their impact on human life. Focusing on Chinese fictions and films, this course investigates rural industrialization, infrastructural construction, species extinction, air pollution, and toxic waste. Students will discuss cultural materials together with critical scholarship that bridges humanistic analysis and environmental concerns in lived experience. Interdisciplinary in nature, this course equips students with a fresh eye to understand the environment not only as an issue for government leaders, engineers, or scientists but also a platform for cultural contestation that problematizes state policy, everyday lifestyle, labor management, and consumption habits. Students will have the chance to develop creative projects (i. e. podcasts or video essays) to articulate their ideas. All class materials will be available in English. No prerequisites for knowledge of environmental humanities or Chinese history.
Same as L04 Chinese 330

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, IS EN: H UColl: CD

L23 Re St 3340 Topics in East Asian Religions: The Lotus Sutra in East Asia: Buddhism, Art, Literature

This course is an introduction to the Lotus Sutra, the most popular and influential scripture in the history of East Asian Buddhism. After a close reading of the entire text and a discussion of its major ideas, it's contextualized within the history of Buddhism and, more broadly, of East Asia, by examining its contributions to thought, ritual, literature and art in China, Korea and Japan, from its first translations into literary Chinese - the canonical language of East Asian Buddhism - to modern times. Topics covered include: the ontological status of the Lotus and, more broadly, of Mahayana scriptures; commentarial traditions on the meaning of the Lotus and its place within Mahayana Buddhism; practices associated to the worship of the Lotus - e.g., copying, reciting, burying; the worship of buddhas and bodhisattvas appearing in the sutra; Lotus-inspired poetry, and visual and material culture; Lotus-centered Buddhist traditions. Readings (all in English) are drawn from Buddhist scriptures and commentaries, tale literature, hagiographic narratives, poetry, archeological materials, and other literary genres. Given the importance that the Lotus has played in East Asia, this course functions broadly as an introduction to East Asian Buddhism. Previous coursework on Buddhism or East Asia is recommended but not required, and no prior knowledge of any East Asian languages is required.
Same as L81 EALC 3340

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3341 Religion, Race, and Migration: Borders of Difference

This seminar is an experiment in studying the intersections of religion, race, and migration through the idea of difference. We discuss how particular understandings of religion, race, and migration inform contemporary scholarship and shape national and international legal and governmental practices. Specifically, this course explores how difference-of community, body, and place-produces conditions of possibility. Over the semester, we will investigate various borders of difference, using binaries to guide our analysis. We will examine this through a range of problem spaces including: religion/secularism; race/ethnicity/sect; terrorist/citizen; and refugee/migrant. Ultimately, this course aims to critically unpack the relations of power by which people, places, and ideas are differentially constructed, maintained, and transformed
Same as L57 RelPol 334

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, ETH

L23 Re St 3345 The Politics of Play and Protest: Religion and Sports in America

Play is an essential component of human life. Yet, while the word play evokes leisure and frivolity, it can be serious work. Cultural values, spiritual truths, and social politics arise from play, particularly when they are codified in sports. From raucous games of Chunkey in pre-Columbian North America to Tim Tebow's gameday prayers, sports have long been used as instruments of social cohesion and as a way to connect a people to their gods. This course will examine the close relationship between religion and sport in modern American history and will push students beyond the sports-as-religion paradigm to consider sport as a medium of exchange between the overlapping influences of celebrity, national politics, religion, and the economy. We will cover how sports and religion intersect with topics like nationalism, gender, race, sexuality, identity formation, commercialism, mass-media, recreation, and labor. Concepts like ritual, collective effervescence, and sacred space will be used to analyze key historical movements and organizations, such as muscular Christianity, the YMCA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Olympics, amateurism and the NCAA, and Black Lives Matter. Key figures for examining sport as a site of piety and protest include Muhammad Ali, Serena Williams, Tim Tebow, Jackie Robinson, Colin Kaepernick, and Abe Saperstein. Throughout the course we will ask: How, where, and when do sports act religiously? What do sports and religion accomplish together that they cannot accomplish alone?
Same as L57 RelPol 3345

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 334C Crusade, Conflict, and Coexistence: Jews in Christian Europe

This course will investigate some of the major themes in the history of the Jews in Europe, from the Middle Ages to the eve of the French Revolution. Jews constituted a classic, nearly continuous minority in the premodern Christian world — a world that was not known for tolerating dissent. Or was it? One of the main purposes of the course is to investigate the phenomenon of majority/minority relations, to examine the ways in which the Jewish community interacted with and experienced European societies, cultures and politics. We will look at the dynamics of boundary formation and cultural distinctiveness; the limits of religious and social tolerance; the periodic eruption of persecution in its social, political, and religious contexts; and the prospects for Jewish integration into various European societies during the course of the Enlightenment era.
Same as L22 History 334C

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC, SD BU: ETH, HUM, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3354 Vienna, Prague, Budapest: Politics, Culture, and Identity in Central Europe

The term "Central Europe" evokes the names of Freud and Mahler; Kafka and Kundera; and Herzl, Lukács, and Konrád. In politics, it evokes images of revolution and counter-revolution, ethnic nationalism, fascism, and communism. Both culture and politics, in fact, were deeply embedded in the structures of empire (in our case, the Habsburg Monarchy), which both balanced and exacerbated ethnic, religious, and social struggles; in modern state formation; and in the emergence of creative and dynamic urban centers, of which Vienna, Budapest, and Prague were the most visible. This course seeks to put all of these elements into play -- empire, nation, urban space, religion, and ethnicity -- to illustrate what it has meant to be modern, creative, European, nationalist, or cosmopolitan since the 19th century. It engages current debates on nationalism and national identity; the viability of empires as supra-national constructs; urbanism and modern culture; the place of Jews in the social and cultural fabric of Central Europe; migration; and authoritarian and violent responses to modernity.
Same as L22 History 3354

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 335C Becoming "Modern": Emancipation, Antisemitism and Nationalism in Modern Jewish History

This course offers a survey of the Jewish experience in the modern world by asking, at the outset, what it means to be — or to become — modern. To answer this question, we look at two broad trends that took shape toward the end of the 18th century — the Enlightenment and the formation of the modern state — and we track changes and developments in Jewish life down to the close of the 20th century with analyses of the (very different) American and Israeli settings. The cultural, social, and political lives of Jews have undergone major transformations and dislocations over this time — from innovation to revolution, exclusion to integration, calamity to triumphs. The themes that we will be exploring in depth include the campaigns for and against Jewish "emancipation;" acculturation and religious reform; traditionalism and modernism in Eastern Europe; the rise of political and racial antisemitism; mass migration and the formation of American Jewry; varieties of Jewish national politics; Jewish-Gentile relations between the World Wars; the destruction of European Jewry; the emergence of a Jewish nation-state; and Jewish culture and identity since 1945.
Same as L22 History 335C

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC, SD Art: HUM BU: HUM, IS EN: H UColl: HEU, HSM

L23 Re St 336C History of the Jews in Islamic Lands

This course is a survey of Jewish communities in the Islamic world, their social, cultural, and intellectual life from the rise of Islam to the Imperial Age. Topics include: Muhammad, the Qur'an and the Jews; the legal status of Jews under Islam; the spread of Rabbinic Judaism in the Abbasid empire; the development of new Jewish identities under Islam (Karaites); Jewish traders and scholars in Fatimid Egypt; the flourishing of Jewish civilization in Muslim Spain (al-Andalus); and Sephardi (Spanish) Jews in the Ottoman empire. On this background, we will look closely at some of the major Jewish philosophical and poetical works originating in Islamic lands. Another important source to be studied will be documents from the Cairo Genizah, reflecting social history, the status of women, and other aspects of daily life.
Same as L22 History 336C

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3392 Topics in South Asian Religions

The topic for this course varies. The topic for fall 2017 was Hinduism and the Hindu Right.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM BU: IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3401 Pilgrims and Seekers: American Spirituality from the Transcendentalists to the Millennials

This seminar focuses on the formation of "spirituality" in American culture from the Transcendentalist world of Ralph Waldo Emerson on through more recent expressions of the "spiritual-but-not-religious" sensibility. How did "spirituality" come to be seen as something positively distinct from "organized religion"? What are the main contours of spiritual seeking in American culture, especially among those who claim no specific religious affiliation? The course also explores the social, political, and cultural consequences of this turn to the spiritual over the religious: for example, the consecration of liberal individualism, the relationship of religious exploration to both environmentalism and consumerism, the politics of cultural appropriation, the negotiation of religious pluralism, and the pursuit of the spiritual in art.
Same as L57 RelPol 340

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3421 Childhood, Culture, and Religion in Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean World

From child saints to child scholars and from child crusaders to child casualties, the experience of childhood varied widely throughout the European Middle Ages. This course will explore how medieval Jews, Christians and Muslims developed some parallel and some very much divergent concepts of childhood, childrearing, and the proper cultural roles for children in their respective societies. Our readings will combine primary and secondary sources from multiple perspectives and multiple regions of Europe and the Mediterranean World, including a few weeks on the history and cultural legacy of the so-called Children's Crusade of 1312. We will conclude with a brief survey of medieval childhood and its stereotypes as seen through contemporary children's books and TV shows. This course fulfills the Language & Cultural Diversity requirement for Arts & Sciences.
Same as L66 ChSt 342

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3422 Art of the Islamic World

This course surveys the art and architecture of societies in which Muslims were dominant or in which they formed significant minorities from the seventh through the 20th centuries. It examines the form and function of architecture and works of art as well as the social, historical, and cultural contexts; patterns of use; and evolving meanings attributed to art by the users. The course follows a chronological order, and selected visual materials are treated along chosen themes. Themes include the creation of a distinctive visual culture in the emerging Islamic polity; the development of urban institutions; key architectural types such as the mosque, madrasa, caravanserai, palace, and mausoleum; art objects and the art of the illustrated book; cultural interconnections along trade and pilgrimage routes; and Westernization and modernization in art and architecture.
Same as L01 Art-Arch 3422

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Art: AH, GFAH, HUM BU: IS EN: H UColl: CD

L23 Re St 343C Europe in the Age of the Reformation

How should people act toward each other, toward political authorities and toward their God? Who decided what was the "right" faith: the individual? the family? the state? Could a community survive religious division? What should states do about individuals or communities who refused to conform in matters of religion? With Martin Luther's challenge to the Roman Catholic Church, the debates over these questions transformed European theology, society and politics. In this class we examine the development of Protestant and Radical theology, the Reformers' relations with established political authorities, the response of the Catholic Church, the development of new social and cultural expectations, the control of marginalized religious groups such as Jews, Muslims and Anabaptists, and the experiment of the New World.
Same as L22 History 343C

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Art: HUM BU: HUM, IS

L23 Re St 3451 Religion and Race in the United States

Race and ethnicity are central to how religious pluralism is worked out in America. How do the categories of race and religion intersect to produce concepts of a normative American identity? In this course, we examine the construct of race across various American congregational communities in order to understand debates on American identity and belonging. We also explore the idea of an American civil religion, and we engage with the boundaries of inclusion and exclusion of particular religious groups within this category based upon racialized criteria.
Same as L57 RelPol 345

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, ETH, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 346 Topics in East Asian Religions

This course explores one of the various topics in East Asian Religions. Recent topics have included "The Zhuangzi" (a Daoist classic); Tantric Buddhism; and death, dying and the afterlife in East Asian religions.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3461 Zen Buddhism

This course is designed to introduce students to the history, teachings, and practice of Zen Buddhism in China (Chan), Japan (Zen), Korea (Sôn), and the United States. We will discuss how Zen's conception of its history is related to its identity as a special tradition within Mahayana Buddhism, as well as its basic teachings on the primacy of enlightenment, the role of practice, the nature of the mind, and the limitations of language. We will also look at Zen Buddhism and its relation to the arts, including poetry and painting, especially in East Asia. Finally, we will briefly explore the response of Zen teachers and practitioners to questions of war, bioethics, the environment and other contemporary issues. Prerequisites: Re St 203 or Re St 311.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3465 Islamic Law

This course will present a general overview of Islamic law and an introduction to the study of religious legal authority, which values consensus. It will then explore the formation of the major schools of law. Next, it will debate the notions of "ijtihad" and "taqlid" and discuss how open and independent legal decisions have been in the Islamic world. It will also trace the transmission of legal knowledge in religious institutions across time and place by focusing on medieval Muslim societies and by closely examining the education of a modern-day Ayatollah. Note: L75 546 is intended for graduate students only.
Same as L75 JIMES 346

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3513 Muhammad: His Life and Legacy

This course intends to examine the life and representations of the Prophet Muhammad from the perspective of multiple spiritual sensibilities as articulated in various literary genres from medieval to modern periods. The course is divided roughly into two parts. One part deals with the history of Muhammad and the related historiographical questions. The second part deals with the representations of Muhammad in juristic, theological, Sufi, etc., literature. Because of the availability of primary sources in English translation, there is a healthy dose of primary source reading and analysis throughout the semester. Those students with advanced Arabic (and Persian and Turkish) skills are encouraged to engage sources in their original language.
Same as L75 JIMES 351

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3540 Anthropological and Sociological Study of Muslim Societies

This course introduces students to anthropological and sociological scholarship on Muslim societies. Attention will be given to the broad theoretical and methodological issues which orient such scholarship. These issues include the nature of Muslim religious and cultural traditions, the nature of modernization and rationalization in Muslim societies, and the nature of sociopolitical relations between "Islam" and the "West." The course explores the preceding issues through a series of ethnographic and historical case studies, with a special focus on Muslim communities in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Europe. Case studies address a range of specific topics, including religious knowledge and authority, capitalism and economic modernization, religion and politics, gender and sexuality, as well as migration and globalization. Please note: L75 554 is intended for graduate students only.
Same as L75 JIMES 354

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: LCD, SSC, SC, SD Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: IS EN: S UColl: CD

L23 Re St 3542 Christian Theology and Politics in the Modern West

This course engages students in reading and analysis of influential religious texts from the western Christian world from the mid-sixteenth century to the present. The course also examines these texts in their historical context, raising questions about the relationship between theology and politics in the west. The course pursues such questions chronologically, with the first weeks devoted to Catholic and Calvinist contests over revelation and political authority during the sixteenth century to Puritan ruminations during the seventeenth century on the nature of worldly calling and personal eschatology. The next weeks concern eighteenth-century views of reason as a critique of traditional Christianity and Protestant responses centered on true virtue as a hedge against worldly loyalties. We then examine nineteenth-century discussions of the relationship between ethics, tradition, and religious experience. For the twentieth century, we discuss texts that address Christian conceptions of redemption to issues of hyper-nationalism and race. The final weeks are devoted to recent theologies that have to do with the self and one's identity and current political crises.
Same as L57 RelPol 354

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3551 The FBI and Religion

This seminar examines the relationship between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and religion (i.e., faith communities, clerics, and religious professionals) as a way to study and understand 20th-century religion and politics. The course will investigate the history of the FBI as well as the various ways in which the FBI and religious groups have interacted. The course will pay particular attention to what the professor calls the four interrelated "modes" of FBI-religious engagement: counter-intelligence and surveillance, coordination and cooperation, censorship and publicity, and consultation.
Same as L57 RelPol 355

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM BU: BA, ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3552 Topics in Korean Literature and Culture

Topics course on Korean literature and culture. Subject matter varies by semester; consult current semester listings for topic.
Same as L51 Korean 355

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA EN: H UColl: CD

L23 Re St 356 Genesis

Genesis, the first book of the Bible, remains among the most important literary, historical, and theological works ever written - at once beautiful, funny, perplexing, and challenging. In this class, we will take a deep dive into Genesis, while also exploring literary, historical, mythological, feminist, postcolonial, and other responses to the text. We will also consider the history of interpretation, with a particular interest in the reception of Genesis in literature and in popular culture.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3561 Exodus

We will investigate the biblical book of Exodus in both its original significance in the ancient Near East and its later meanings for Jews, Christians, and Muslims in societies around the world. Why did its narratives and ideas about law and justice and religion resonate so strongly both in biblical times and afterwards? Which assumptions did the biblical authors make about writing stories and poetry? What is the historical reality of the Exodus? How did the biblical Israelites conceive of their religious practices and institutions? We will also explore how Exodus and the celebration of Passover has been, and continues to be, a crucial source of identity in Jewish and Christian circles. How has Exodus been re-imagined and transfigured multiple times, and how has the Passover celebration reflected transformations in the understanding of the Exodus? We will analyze many types of expression influenced by Exodus: historical sources, liturgy, art, commentaries, theology, literature, film, mysticism, and music.
Same as L75 JIMES 3561

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3571 God in the Courtroom

The U.S. Constitution holds a promise to secure freedom of religion through its First Amendment. Its two religion clauses declare unconstitutional any prohibition on the free exercise of religion and laws respecting the establishment of religion. The consequence is that, whenever a group demands to be recognized as religious and to be granted the right to exercise its religion, a court, a legislature, or an administrative official must determine whether the religious practice in question is legally religious. This means that law plays a uniquely important role in defining religion in the United States. In this seminar, we will explore the relation between law and religion in America. We will study the religion clauses in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, the histories of their interpretations by American courts in landmark cases, and the ways that religious studies scholars have understood and critiqued these cases.
Same as L57 RelPol 357

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 358 Conscience and Religion in American Politics

Conscience is as American as apple pie and baseball, but its meaning and implications are deeply contested in American religion and politics. What is conscience? To what extent is conscience laden with theological -- and, more specifically, Christian -- commitments? What role should conscience, whether religious or ethical, play in political life? By considering what conscience means and what vision of politics it implies, we will reflect on what it means to be American: how religion should relate to politics, how individuals should engage with democratic laws and norms, and how religious and political dissenters might oppose American politics. We will focus on key moments in the history of American religion and politics through the lens of conscience, from the Interwar Period, the perceived threat of communism during the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Vietnam War to the "culture wars" on abortion, marriage equality, LBGTQ rights, and the death penalty. This course draws on interdisciplinary sources from religious studies, political theory, law, and history in 20th- and 21st-century American politics.
Same as L57 RelPol 358

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 359 Travelers, Tricksters, and Storytellers: Jewish Travel Narratives and Autobiographies

Jewish literature includes highly fascinating travel accounts and autobiographies that are still awaiting their discovery by a broader readership. In this course, we will explore a broad range of texts originating from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. They were written by both Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews hailing from countries as diverse as Spain, Italy, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire. Among the authors were pilgrims, rabbis, merchants, and one savvy businesswoman. We will read their works as responses to historical circumstances and as expressions of Jewish identity, in its changing relationship to the Christian or Muslim environment in which the writers lived or traveled. Specifically, we will ask questions such as: How do travel accounts and autobiographies enable their authors and readers to reflect on issues of identity and difference? How do the writers produce representations of an "other," against which and through which they define a particular sense of self? This course is open to students of varying interests, including Jewish, Islamic, or Religious Studies, medieval and early modern history, European or Near Eastern literatures. All texts will be read in English translation. Please note: L75 559 is intended for graduate students only.
Same as L75 JIMES 359

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3600 Religion and the Modern Civil Rights Movements, 1954-1968

The modern Civil Rights Movement is a landmark event in the nation's political, civic, cultural and social history. In many contexts, this movement for and against civil and legal equality took on a religious ethos, with activists, opponents and observers believing that the net result of the marches, demonstrations and legislative rulings would redeem and/or destroy "The Soul of the Nation." This seminar examines the modern Civil Rights Movement and its strategies and goals, with an emphasis on the prominent religious ideologies and activities that were visible and utilized in the modern movement. The course pays particular attention to the Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Islamic traditions, figures and communities that were indifferent, combative, instrumental and/or supportive of Civil Rights legislation throughout the mid-20th century.
Same as L57 RelPol 360

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC, SD BU: BA EN: H

L23 Re St 3620 Islam, Gender, Sexuality

In this course, we examine major themes and debates around gender and sexuality in Islamic contexts, investigating how gender informs social, political, religious, and family life in Muslim cultures. We employ a chronological approach to these topics, beginning with the status of women in seventh century Arabia, to the period of Islamic expansion across Asia, North Africa, and the Iberian Peninsula, to the colonial period ending with the contemporary US contexts, wherein debates over the status of Muslim women in society have emerged with renewed vigor.
Same as L57 RelPol 362

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, HUM, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3622 Topics in Islam

This course presents selected themes in the study of Islam and Islamic culture in social, historical, and political context. The specific area of emphasis will be determined by the instructor. Note: L75 5622 is intended for graduate students only.
Same as L75 JIMES 3622

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: IS EN: H UColl: CD

L23 Re St 365 The Bible as Literature

The Bible is one book among many; the Bible is a book like no other; the Bible is not one book but many. The course will debate such positions and the different histories and practices of reading they involve. We shall read extensively in English translations of the Bible, both Jewish and Christian, with emphasis on literary form and ideas. We shall look at the Bible´s material forms, and the history of its interpretation and translation. The aim is not to adjudicate its meaning but to explore what over time it has been taken to mean, attempting to locate within the book the potential for different interpretations. The course requires, and should foster, attentive reading, vigorous yet courteous argument, and respect for the readings of others.
Same as L14 E Lit 365

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3650 Slavery, Sovereignty, Security: American Religions and the Problem of Freedom

The goal of this course is to think critically about freedom as an ideology and institution. What does it mean to be free? What are the relationships among individual liberties, national sovereignty, and civil rights? In what ways has freedom been defined in relation to — and materially depended on — unfreedom? At the same time, this course will treat American "religions" in a similar critical fashion: as a historically contingent category that has been forged and inflected within the same context of white Christian settler empire. Religion and freedom have intertwined throughout American history, including in the ideal of religious freedom. Our critical interrogation of freedom should help us think carefully about power, working with but also beyond tropes of domination and resistance.
Same as L57 RelPol 365

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 366 Approaches to the Qur'an

The place of the Qur'an in Islamic religion and society. Equal emphasis on text: the Qur'an's history, contents, and literary features; and context: the place of the Qur'an in everyday life, its oral recitation, artistic uses, and scholarly interpretation. Knowledge of Arabic not required.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD BU: ETH

L23 Re St 3660 The Sephardic Experience: 1492 to the Present

In the public perception, modern Jews divide into two subethnic groups: Ashkenazi and Sephardi, or European and Middle Eastern Jews. However, this is an oversimplification that does not do justice to the diversity and complex history of Jewish identities, which are often multilayered. Strictly speaking, Sephardi Jews trace their ancestral lines or cultural heritage to the medieval Iberian Peninsula, present-day Spain and Portugal. That said, according to some scholars, Sephardi Judaism did not even exist before the general expulsion of Spanish Jewry in 1492 and is the result of their subsequent migrations within the Mediterranean and transatlantic worlds. We will start with an introduction into the history of Spanish Jews prior to 1492, asking to what extent memories of pre-expulsion Iberia are at the heart of Sephardi identity. We will then follow the migratory path of Sephardi exiles to North Africa, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, the Netherlands, and the Americas. The questions we will explore include: in what sense did Sephardim form a transnational community? How did they transmit and transform aspects of Spanish culture in form of Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) language and literature? How did they become intermediaries between Christian Europe and the Ottoman Empire? What was their role in Europe's transatlantic expansion and the slave trade? How did Ottoman and North African Jews respond to European cultural trends in the nineteenth century and create their own forms of modernity? How did the Holocaust impact Sephardi Jews?
Same as L75 JIMES 366

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3670 Gurus, Saints and Scientists: Religion in Modern South Asia

Many long-standing South Asian traditions have been subject to radical reinterpretation, and many new religious movements have arisen, as South Asians have grappled with how to accommodate their traditions of learning and practice to what they have perceived to be the conditions of modern life. In this course we consider some of the factors that have contributed to religious change in South Asia, including British colonialism, sedentarization and globalization, and new discourses of democracy and equality. We consider how new religious organizations were part and parcel with movements for social equality and political recognition; examine the intellectual contributions of major thinkers like Swami Vivekananda, Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Mohandas Gandhi; and explore how Hindu, Islamic and other South Asian traditions were recast in the molds of natural science, social science and world religion.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 368 Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion

What is religion, and how can we study it? Do we need an answer to the first question to pursue the second? Why, and toward what ends, might we undertake such study? This course considers these questions through the investigation of significant attempts to study religion over the past century, paying particular attention to the methods, motivations, and aims of these works. Is the study of religion an effort to disprove or debunk it, or perhaps to support it? What would each mean? Is it an effort to describe the indescribable, or perhaps to translate complex beliefs and practices into a language in which they can be discussed by others? Why would such a translation be helpful, and to whom? Is the study of religion an investigation of a social phenomenon, an organization of communities, a specific formation of individuals, or perhaps a psychosis or illusion, evidence of the workings of power on our lives and the difficulty of bearing it? What is at stake in defining religion in these ways, and then in undertaking its study?

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 36CA Heroes and Saints in India: Religion, Myth, History

This course provides an introduction to the history of modern India and Pakistan through the voices of the Indian subcontinent's major thinkers. We will spend time in the company of saints, from the "great-souled" Mahatma Gandhi to the Sufi scholar Ashraf 'Ali Thanawi, and we will travel alongside the heroes of peasant politics, women's rights, and struggles for national and social freedom and equality. We will immerse ourselves in the rich narrative heritage of India — as it has been challenged, reworked, and harnessed for present and future needs — from the 19th century through the present. Lecture and discussion format; prior knowledge of India or Pakistan not required.
Same as L22 History 36CA

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD BU: ETH, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3700 Religion and Capitalism in Modern America

This course examines the relationship between religion and the development of a capitalist economy in Europe, England, and America from 1550 to 1800. It relies on intellectual, social, and economic histories. We cover major thinkers from the early mercantilist thinkers such as William Petty to Adam Smith.
Same as L57 RelPol 370

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3730 Topics in Near Eastern Cultures

The topic for this course will change each semester; the specific topic for each semester will be given in course listings.
Same as L75 JIMES 373

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 374 Of Dishes, Taste, and Class: History of Food in the Middle East

This course will cover the history of food and drink in the Middle East to help us understand our complex relationship with food and to look at our lives from perspectives we intuitively feel or by implication know but rarely critically and explicitly reflect on. Food plays a fundamental role in how humans organize themselves in societies; differentiate socially, culturally, and economically; establish values and norms for religious, cultural, and communal practices; and define identities of race, gender, and class. This course does not intend to spoil, so to speak, what is undeniably one of the most pleasurable human needs and activities; rather, the goal is to make students aware of the social meaning of food and to reflect on how food shapes who we are as individuals and societies. We will study the history of food and drink in the Middle East across the centuries up to the present time, but we will be selective in choosing themes, geographic regions, and historical periods to focus on. Student should consult the instructor if they have not taken any courses in the humanities. Enrollment priority given to seniors and juniors.
Same as L75 JIMES 374

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, IS EN: H UColl: CD

L23 Re St 374C Kings, Priests, Prophets and Rabbis: The Jews in the Ancient World

We trace Israelite and Jewish history from its beginnings in the biblical period (ca. 1200 BCE) through the rise of rabbinic Judaism and Christianity until the birth of Islam (ca. 620 CE). We explore how Israel emerged as a distinct people and why the rise of the imperial powers tranformed the political, social and religious institutions of ancient Israel. We illuminate why the religion of the Bible developed into rabbinic Judaism and Christianity and how rabbinic literature and institutions were created.
Same as L75 JIMES 301C

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Art: HUM BU: BA, HUM

L23 Re St 3750 In the Beginning: Creation Myths of the Biblical World

This course will study myths and epic literature from the Bible, ancient Egypt, the ancient Near East and ancient Greece about the birth of the gods, the creation of the world and of humanity, and the establishment of societies. These masterpieces of ancient literature recount the deeds of gods and heroes and humanity's eternal struggle to come to terms with the world, supernatural powers, love, lust, and death. This course will examine how each culture borrows traditions and recasts them in a distinct idiom. The course will further examine different approaches to mythology and to the study of ancient cultures and the Bible.
Same as L75 JIMES 3751

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 375W In the Beginning: Creation Myths of the Biblical World: Writing Intensive

This course will study myths and epic literature from the Bible, ancient Egypt, the ancient Near East, and ancient Greece about the birth of the gods, the creation of the world and of humanity, and the establishment of societies. These masterpieces of ancient literature recount the deeds of gods and heroes and humanity's eternal struggle to come to terms with the world, supernatural powers, love, lust, and death. This course will examine how each culture borrows traditions and recasts them in a distinct idiom. The course will further examine different approaches to mythology and to the study of ancient cultures and the Bible.
Same as L75 JIMES 375W

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, WI Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 377 History of Slavery in the Middle East

This course examines slavery and its abolition in the Middle East and North Africa from 600 C.E. to the 20th Century. It addresses slavery as a discourse and a question of political economy. We begin with an overview of slavery in late antiquity to contextualize the evolution of this practice after the rise of Islam in the region. We then examine how it was practiced, imagined, and studied under major empires, such as the Umayyads, the Abbasids, the Fatimids, the Mamluks, the Ottomans, and the Safavids. In addition to examining the Qur'anic discourse and early Islamic practices of slavery, to monitor change over time we address various forms of household, field, and military slavery as well as the remarkable phenomenon of "slave dynasties" following a chronological order. We discuss, through primary sources, theoretical, religious, and moral debates and positions on slavery, including religious scriptures, prophetic traditions, religious law, and a plethora of narratives from a range of genres. We highlight a distinct theme each week to focus on until we conclude our discussion with the abolition of slavery in the 19th and 20th centuries. Topics of discussion include various forms of male and female slavery, Qur'anic and prophetic discourse on slavery, legal and moral views on slavery, slavery as represented in religious literature, political, military, and economic structures of slavery, issues of race and gender as well as slave writings to reflect on the experiences of slavery from within. The goal is to enable students to understand the histories of slavery in the Middle East and eventually compare it to that of other regions and cultures, such as European and Atlantic slavery. No second language required.
Same as L75 JIMES 377

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 379 Gender, Religion, and Secularism

This course considers how gender is constructed in the processes of distinguishing between religion and secularism. Students will be exposed to a variety of case studies that examine the specific dynamics of producing an oppositional difference between religion and secularism through attitudes toward gender roles, values, and commitments. This course is designed to help students examine how the assumptions about secularism as necessarily more freeing and equalizing for women become normative and make many religious women's claims to freedom, equality, and agency illegible.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3801 Religion in the Kitchen

The kitchen is home to food preparation and everyday conversations, not a privileged place of formal religious rites. But much can be learned about religion by focusing our analytical gaze on this seemingly benign space. By expanding the focus of where, and how, we study religion, the kitchen is revealed as a remarkably unstable social space. In this course we will consider questions such as: Is the kitchen constructed as a sacred, profane, or an in-between space? How is the kitchen gendered? Is it perceived as a dominantly female (or male) space, and under what conditions of power? How is food used to construct religious or racial identity, and why is it so powerful? Are kitchen practices cultural or religious activities? And who identifies kitchen work as an authentic (or inauthentic) religious practice? To answer these questions, we will consider a variety of religious, and not-so-religious, traditions within North America.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, IS EN: H UColl: CD

L23 Re St 381 Major Figures in Christian Thought

Critical examination of one or more of the major figures in Christian theology and apologetics (e.g., Jesus, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Kierkegaard). Subject matter varies each semester. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: a course in biblical literature, or permission of the instructor.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 382 Topics in Christianity

The topic covered in this course varies. Recent course topics include: "The 'Other' Catholic Church: The Lived Experiences of Eastern Orthodoxy" and "The Apostle Paul: Communities and Controversies."

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3831 Magicians, Healers and Holy Men

Magic is perhaps not one of the first words one associates with Greco-Roman antiquity. Yet for most individuals living in the ancient Mediterranean, including philosophers, businessmen, and politicians, magic was a part of everyday life. Casting spells, fashioning voodoo dolls, wearing amulets, ingesting potions, and reading the stars are just some of the activities performed by individuals at every level of society. This course examines Greco-Roman, early Christian, and Judaic "magical" practices. Students read spell-books which teach how to read the stars, make people fall in love, bring harm to enemies, lock up success in business, and win fame and the respect of peers. Students also look at what is said, both in antiquity and in contemporary scholarship, about magic and the people who practiced it, which helps illuminate the fascinating relationship between magic, medicine, and religion.
Same as L08 Classics 3831

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 3843 Comparative Religion

This course provides an overview of religion from the emergence of the human species until the present. It draws on scholarship from a variety of fields including archaeology, cultural anthropology, history, religious studies, evolutionary biology, psychology, and neuroscience. The course begins with a discussion of the psychological/biological foundations of religion. It then examines hunter-gatherer religions, prehistoric agricultural/pastoral religions, and major ancient/early religions (e.g., Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Zoroastrian, Greco-Roman, Aztec). Next, students are introduced to the three major families of world religions; namely, the "Abrahamic" religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam); the "Indic" religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism), and the "East Asian" religions (Confucianism, Daoism, Shintoism).

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3850 Jesus, Jazz, and Gin: the 1920s and the History of Our Current Times

This course is a historical survey of the dynamic relationship between religion and politics during the 1920s. The 1920s were a tipping point for a great deal of the fundamental issues that shaped the 20th century in the U.S. This course seeks to investigate how religious activism, evangelism, discourse, practice and reinvention contributed to and was shaped by such change.
Same as L57 RelPol 385

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA EN: H

L23 Re St 385D Topics in Biblical Hebrew Texts

The topic covered in this course varies. Recent course topics include Jeremiah, The Book of Isaiah, and Biblical Poetry. Prerequisite: Grade of B- or better in L74 384 or permission of instructor. Note: L75 585D is intended for graduate students only.
Same as L74 HBRW 385D

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 386 Topics in Jewish Studies

Consult course listings for current topics. Prerequisite: permission of instructor.
Same as L75 JIMES 386

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA EN: H

L23 Re St 387 Topics in Jewish Studies: Race and Religion in the North American West

Consult Course Listings for current topics. Please note: L75 585A is intended for graduate students only.
Same as L75 JIMES 385

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: IS EN: H

L23 Re St 38C8 Religion and Politics in South Asia: Writing-Intensive Seminar

The relationship between religion, community and nation is a topic of central concern and contestation in the study of South Asian history. This course explores alternative positions and debates on such topics as: changing religious identities; understandings of the proper relationship between religion, community and nation in India and Pakistan; and the violence of Partition (the division of India and Pakistan in 1947). The course treats India, Pakistan and other South Asian regions in the colonial and postcolonial periods.
Same as L22 History 38C8

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, WI BU: IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3900 Mormon History in Global Context

The focus of this seminar is Mormonism, meaning, primarily, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is the largest Mormon body. Mormons in the United States have gone from being one of the most intensely persecuted religious groups in the country's history to the fourth largest religious body in the U.S., with a reputation for patriotism and conservative family values. Because of its vigorous missionary program, the LDS Church now has more members outside the U.S. than inside. This seminar will introduce the basic practices and beliefs, and explore issues regarding economics, race, gender, and sexuality within the faith. These issues include: How did conflicts over Mormonism during the 19th century, especially the conflict over polygamy, help define the limits of religious tolerance in this country? How have LDS teachings about gender and race, or controversies about whether or not Mormons are Christian, positioned and repositioned Mormons within U.S. society? What does the LDS faith look like in other parts of the world, and how does its identification with U.S. prosperity and politics shape its growth in other places?
Same as L57 RelPol 390

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SC, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 390A EALC Seminar: East Asian Buddhism

This course introduces students to East Asian media cultures by focusing on a specific topic - the "screen." Students will explore how screen is not only an architectural construct (the painted screen) or a projection surface, but an electronic display, interface, or game console. Through examining a selection of scroll paintings, films, and digital artworks in Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan, they will learn to be attentive to the material, infrastructural, and formal conditions of how mass media is produced, exhibited, and consumed. Other media objects and phenomena to be discussed include manga and anime, console games, advertising walls, immersive installations, TikTok/Douyin short videos, digital filters and selfies, touch-based interfaces, among others. The class will also scrutinize the employment of the screen as motifs and metaphors in East Asian visual cultures and discuss how these metaphors and motifs negotiate questions of national identity, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, socialism/post-socialism, colonialism/post-colonialism, global expansion of capitalism. This class will also offer students a chance to explore multimedia productions as a new mode of critical thinking and creative expression. This course is primarily for sophomores and juniors with a major or minor in the Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures. Other students may enroll with permission. No prior knowledge of East Asia is required.
Same as L81 EALC 3900

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, HUM, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 3921 Secular and Religious: A Global History

Recent years have seen a dramatic rethinking of the past in nearly every corner of the world as scholars revisit fundamental questions about the importance of religion for individuals, societies and politics. Is religion as a personal orientation in decline? Is Europe becoming more secular? Is secularism a European invention? Many scholars now argue that "religion" is a European term that doesn't apply in Asian societies. This course brings together cutting-edge historical scholarship on Europe and Asia in pursuit of a truly global understanding. Countries covered will vary, but may include Britain, France, Turkey, China, Japan, India and Pakistan.
Same as L22 History 3921

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SD BU: HUM, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 393 Medieval Christianity

This course surveys the historical development of Christian doctrine, ecclesiastical organization, and religious practice between the fifth century and the 15th, with an emphasis on the interaction of religion, culture, politics and society. Topics covered include: the Christianization of Europe; monasticism; the liturgy; sacramental theology and practice; the Gregorian reform; religious architecture; the mendicant orders and the attack on heresy; lay devotions; the papal monarchy; schism and conciliarism; and the reform movements of the 15th century.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: IS EN: H

L23 Re St 396 Islamic Philosophy, Mysticism, and Theology

How does an individual achieve access to knowledge and access to God? To what extent is such access dependent upon scripture? To what extent is such access dependent upon reason? Are there forms of truth and experience that only reveal themselves through mysticism? Questions of this sort are central to the interrelated disciplines of Islamic philosophy, Islamic theology, and Islamic mysticism (i.e., Sufism). This course examines how these three disciplines have shaped various aspects of social life within premodern Muslim communities.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 3977 The Making of the Modern Catholic Church

This course examines the work of three church councils that put their stamp on the Catholic Church at key moments in its history, making it what it is today. The first section is dedicated to the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), which defined the high medieval church as an all-encompassing papal monarchy with broad powers over the lives of all Europeans, Christian and non-Christian alike. In the second section we turn our attention to the Council of Trent (1545-1563), which responded to the threat posed by the Protestant Reformation by reforming the Catholic Church, tightening ecclesiastical discipline, improving clerical education, and defining and defending Catholic doctrine. We conclude with a consideration of the largest church council ever, Vatican II (1962-1965), which reformed the liturgy and redefined the church to meet the challenges of the modern, multicultural, postcolonial world.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD BU: ETH, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 4002 Capstone Seminar: Convivencia or Reconquista? Muslims, Jews, and Christians in Medieval Iberia

The capstone course for Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies majors, Arabic majors, and Hebrew majors. The course content is subject to change.
Same as L75 JIMES 4001

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 403 Topics in East Asian Religion and Thought

Topics in East Asian Religions is a course for advanced undergraduate and graduate students on specific themes and methodological issues in East Asian religions.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD EN: H

L23 Re St 404 Material Religion

This seminar examines contemporary theories and approaches to materiality in the study of religion. Particular attention is given to how scholars envision the relationship between bodies, rituals, religious objects, and the human ability to think, know, and act in the world. By attending to a variety of "things" -- prints, icons, ritual clothes, food, incense -- and to the history of their use within such traditions as Islam, Buddhism, Candomble, Lucumi, and Christianity, this course seeks to provide students with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with contemporary studies that take seriously the power of material objects to make and sustain religion. This course is simultaneously designed to allow students to practice utilizing material culture as a method in their own research.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 4041 Islam and Politics

Blending history and ethnography, this course covers politics in the Islamic world in historical and contemporary times. Topics include history of Islam, uniformity and diversity in belief and practice (global patterns, local realities), revolution and social change, women and veiling, and the international dimensions of resurgent Islam. Geographical focus extends from Morocco to Indonesia; discussion of other Muslim communities is included (Bosnia, Chechnya, sub-Saharan Africa, U.S.).
Same as L48 Anthro 4041

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: LCD, SSC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: IS

L23 Re St 405 Diaspora in Jewish and Islamic Experience

Tensions between center and periphery; migration and rest; power and powerlessness; and exile, home, and return are easily found in the historical record of both Jews and Muslims. For Muslims, it can be said that it was the very success of Islam as a world culture and the establishment of Muslim societies in in all corners of the globe that lay at the root of this unease. However, the disruptions of the post-colonial era, the emergence of minority Muslim communities in Europe and North America, and the recent tragic flow of refugees following the Arab Spring have created a heightened sense of displacement and yearning for many. Of course, the very term "diaspora" -- from the ancient Greek, meaning "dispersion" or "scattering" -- has most often been used to describe the Jewish condition in the world. The themes of exile and return and of catastrophe and redemption are already woven into the Hebrew Bible, and they continued to be central motifs in Rabbinic Judaism in late antiquity and the Middle Ages. This occurred despite the fact that more Jews lived outside the borders of Judea than within the country many years before the destruction of Jewish sovereignty at the hands of the Romans. In the 20th century, European imperialism, nationalisms of various types, revolution, and war -- including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- have done much to underscore the continuing dilemmas of diaspora and home in both Jewish and Islamic identity. The goal of this course is to offer a comparative historical perspective on the themes of migration and displacement, center and periphery, home and residence, and exile and return and to give students the opportunity to examine in depth some aspect of the experience of diaspora. Note: This course fulfills the capstone requirement for Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies. The course also counts as an Advanced Seminar for history. (Students wishing to receive history Advanced Seminar credit should also enroll in L22 491R section 19 for 1 unit.) The course is open to advanced undergraduate and graduate students.
Same as L75 JIMES 405

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 4060 Convivencia or Reconquista? Muslims, Jews, and Christians in Medieval Iberia

This seminar will explore various facets of the coexistence (convivencia) of Muslims, Jews, and Christians in medieval Spain. Its horizon stretches from the Muslim conquest of Iberia (al-Andalus) up to the turn of the 16th century when Spanish Jews and Muslims were equally faced with the choice between exile and conversion to Christianity. Until about 1100, Muslims dominated most of the Iberian Peninsula; from then onward, Christians ruled much and eventually all of what would become modern Spain and Portugal. Through a process known as reconquista (reconquest), Catholic kingdoms acquired large Muslim enclaves. As borders moved, Jewish communities found themselves under varying Muslim or Christian dominion. Interactions between the three religious communities occurred throughout, some characterized by shared creativity and mutual respect, others by rivalry and strife. The course focuses on these cultural encounters, placing them in various historical contexts. It will explore the ambiguities of religious conversion, and the interplay of persecution and toleration. Last not least, the course will address the question of how the memory of medieval Spain's diversity reverberates-and is utilized-in modern popular and academic discourse. All sources will be read in English translation; however, students are encouraged to make use of their linguistic and cultural expertise acquired in previous classes. This course serves as the capstone seminar for Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies majors, Arabic majors, and Hebrew majors. Graduate students, minors, and other interested undergrads are likewise welcome.
Same as L75 JIMES 4060

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 407 Solidarity and Silence: Religious Strategies in the Political Sphere

Although political action is often considered a problem of making oneself heard, religious practices of silence, self-effacement and withdrawal from certain worldly struggles have guided many significant political and social movements, particularly forms of nonviolent resistance. This course considers the role of religious thought and practice in such movements in the 20th century. The history of these movements presents an apparent paradox: How can political action emerge from the supposedly "private" realm of religion in the modern era, particularly its most individualistic formations in contemplative and mystical practices? Does the historical role of these practices in the political sphere complicate their portrayal in some scholarship as private, individual and depoliticizing? With these questions animating our investigations, we will consider the work of authors and activists including Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King Jr., Simone Weil, and William Barber, as well as the history of movements associated with their work. Toward the end of the semester, we will turn to contemporary movements against economic inequality, intimate violence, racially motivated violence, and discrimination toward transgender persons to discuss the use of religious strategies or religiously-derived strategies in current political and social activism. CET course.
Same as L57 RelPol 407

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 408 Nuns

Nuns — women vowed to a shared life of poverty, chastity and obedience in a cloistered community — were central figures in medieval and early modern religion and society. This course explores life in the convent, with the distinctive culture that developed among communities of women, and the complex relations between the world of the cloister and the world outside the cloister. We look at how female celibacy served social and political, as well as religious, interests. We read works by nuns: both willing and unwilling; and works about nuns: nuns behaving well, and nuns behaving scandalously badly; nuns embracing their heavenly spouse, and nuns putting on plays; nuns possessed by the devil, and nuns managing their possessions; nuns as enraptured visionaries, and nuns grappling with the mundane realities of life in a cloistered community.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA EN: H

L23 Re St 4080 Sacred Ways and Holy Spaces: Athenian Religion and Topography

From seashore to mountain top, ancient Athens was famous for being a landscape rich with myth and religion. In order to worship their gods with processions, sacrifices, and other acts of devotion, Athenians moved through, across, and within space as defined by such things as sacred roads, monumental gateways and altars, and even places considered so holy that one was forbidden to enter. This course will introduce students to the study of place (topography) and to the methods and evidence by which we can determine where specific buildings and sites were, how they were used, and what they signified. We will explore major sites like the Acropolis as well as a variety of other temples, shrines, and holy sites across urban and rural landscapes alike, each of which structured space in itsr own way. By examining a wide range of archaeological and textual evidence (c. 800 BC-AD 400), we will develop an integrated understanding of Athenian religious belief and ritual in the context of architecture and space. While this course will concentrate on the topography of architecturally definable religious sites, we will also explore religious practices (e.g., magic, early Christianity) that employed the landscape in fundamentally different ways than other parts of the Athenian religious system.
Same as L08 Classics 408

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 4118 The Good Cause: Psychological Anthropology of Moral Crusades

Why do people join moral crusades? These are social movements based on powerful moral institutions, ranging from the abolitionist and suffragette movements to witch hunts, insurgency and ethnic riots. Such movements are extremely diverse, yet their unfolding and the dynamics of recruitment show remarkably common properties. We will examine a series of empirical cases, including recent events, and assess the relevance of models based on individual psychological dynamics, intuitive moral capacities, and human motivation for participation in collective action.
Same as L48 Anthro 4118

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: LCD, SSC Arch: SSC Art: SSC EN: S

L23 Re St 4121 American Religion, Politics, and Culture: Catholicism and Contemporary American Politics

Twenty-five percent of Americans identify as Roman Catholics, making Catholicism the largest Christian church in the country. With the exception of George W. Bush in 2000, no presidential candidate since 1960 has won the White House without winning a majority of Catholic voters. This course will examine the complex role of Roman Catholics in American politics, looking at how Catholics have shaped American history and political life and how American history and politics have shaped Catholicism. Topics will include the nature and influence of "the Catholic vote," the role of Catholic social teaching in forming Catholic voters, and the influence that Catholics continue to exercise over public policy and in our national institutions, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
Same as L57 RelPol 4121

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 4122 American Religion, Politics & Culture: Commentary from Alexis de Tocqueville to Contemporary Pundits

This research-oriented seminar involves in-depth historiographical investigation of leading scholarship at the busy intersections of American religion, politics and culture. The second semester focuses on classic and contemporary commentaries on the American religious and political scene from Alexis de Tocqueville through today's leading pundits. Some sessions will include a visiting scholar engaged in cutting-edge research — a feature that will allow seminar members to work with important scholars from beyond the university. Possible topics include: church-state relations, religion and foreign policy, religion and civil rights, religion and the science wars, the rise of the Religious Right, and the role of religion in national elections. The seminar is taught under the auspices of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics and is offered in two complementary parts (though enrollment in either one of the two is certainly possible). Its ambition is to build up a community of inquirers engaged in the core questions that animate the Danforth Center. Prerequisites: advanced undergraduate or graduate standing in AMCS, History, or Religious Studies or permission of instructor.
Same as L57 RelPol 4122

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM

L23 Re St 413 Topics in Islam

This course aims to study political thought and practice in Islamic history through a close reading of a selection of primary sources in translation (and in their original language, if language proficiency is satisfactory). Particular attention will be given to the historical contexts in which thoughts are espoused and texts written. We plan to examine the development of political concepts and themes as articulated in diverse literary genres (e.g., legal, theological, political) from the eighth through the 13th centuries. We hope to engage various theoretical models to analyze the relationship between politics and religion and to tease out the role of power in determining sociopolitical relations, distinctions, and structures. We hope to have a better grasp on the historicity of ideas presented in timeless categories in political discourse. Advanced knowledge of Arabic preferred but not required.
Same as L75 JIMES 445

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM BU: IS EN: H

L23 Re St 418 Sexuality and Gender in East Asian Religions

In this course we will explore the role of women in the religious traditions of China, Japan and Korea, with a focus on Buddhism, Daoism, Shamanism, Shinto and the so-called "New Religions." We will begin by considering the images of women (whether mythical or historical) in traditional religious scriptures and historical or literary texts. We will then focus on what we know of the actual experience and practice of various types of religious women — nuns and abbesses, shamans and mediums, hermits and recluses, and ordinary laywomen — both historically and in more recent times. Class materials will include literary and religious texts, historical and ethnological studies, biographies and memoirs, and occasional videos and films. Prerequisites: This class will be conducted as a seminar, with minimal lectures, substantial reading and writing, and lots of class discussion. For this reason, students who are not either upper-level undergraduates or graduate students, or who have little or no background in East Asian religion or culture, will need to obtain the instructor's permission before enrolling.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 419 Of Zombies, Ghosts, and Ancestors: Interactions of the Living and the Dead in Chinese Religions

This course introduces a basic aspect of the multifaceted history of Chinese religions, culture and civilization by centering on the practice of taking care of the dead. In particular, we will observe how various religious texts, short stories, and plays from China's earliest times until the 16th century depicted the interactions of the living and the dead. Despite the distinct genres, time periods and topics, one important aspect will regularly appear: Apparently people perceived the boundaries between the living and the dead to be quite porous in premodern China. In other words, the dead seemed to have played as much of a role in society and everyday life as living family members, friends and government officials.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 4250 Law, Religion, and Politics

What is the role of religious argument in politics and law? What kinds of arguments are advanced, and how do they differ from one another? Are some of these arguments more acceptable than others in a liberal democracy? This course will explore these questions through the work of legal scholars, theologians and political theorists. Our topics include the nature of violence and coercion in the law, constraints on public reason, the relationship between religion and government, and the nature of religious practice and tradition.
Same as L57 RelPol 425

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: BA, ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 4251 Topics in Religion and Culture in East Asia: The Buddhist Culture(s) of Japan

This course explores the interaction between Buddhism and its cultural heritage (texts, ideas, deities, practices) and other aspects of premodern Japanese culture, in particular those traditions of kami worship today known under the term Shinto. After some introductory sessions covering the inception of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent and its eastward expansion to China and the Korean peninsula, the course will focus on Japan and, the interactions between Buddhism, other continental traditions, and, in particular local traditions of kami. Through a largely chronological (but at times thematic) examination of key moments, ideas, and practices spanning over a thousand years, this course attempts to investigate the modalities and implications of cultural transmission, including questions of identity, hybridization and appropriation. Basic historiographical and methodological issues, as well as the modern implications of the study of pre-modern histories, will also be discussed. Students will also be introduced to some basic issues in the area of iconology and museology. Previous coursework on East Asia and/or Buddhism is recommended but not required, and no prior knowledge of Chinese, Korean, or Japanese history or language is required. Prerequisite: junior level or above or permission of instructor.
Same as L81 EALC 425

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 4300 Spiritual But Not Religious: The Politics of American Spirituality

What does it mean to claim to be "spiritual but not religious"?? What are the social and political consequences of foregrounding spiritual seeking and religious experimentation over the "organized religion" of churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples?? The seminar focuses on a series of debates that have arisen over this "new spirituality" in American culture: the religious blessing of consumer culture, the rise of therapeutic models of meditation and mindfulness, the politics of Euro-American appropriations of Native American and Buddhist religious practices, the negotiation of religious pluralism, and the relationship between spiritual seeking and social justice.
Same as L57 RelPol 430

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 432 Early Christianity and Classical Culture

This course explores the development of Early Christianity from the Apostolic fathers (late first century CE) to Augustine in the fifth century. We will be focused on contextualizing these early Christian communities within the classical Greek and Roman worlds through which they spread, examining their engagement with Greco-Roman models of rhetoric, philosophy and literature. Prerequisites: L23 307F Introduction to the New Testament or previous work in Classical Studies recommended but not required.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 435 Sabbath Politics: Rest and Refusal in Religion and Politics

The Jewish Sabbath arrives every week to disrupt ordinary life with a wholly different way of living, abstaining from some activities in divinely commanded rest. Is this different way of life strictly a break from the ordinary, or also a guide to it-and to how it might require disruption, reformation, and repair? Sabbath traditions have inspired radical political action including movements against debt, income inequality, environmental destruction, and racial injustice. This course will consider the ways that 20th and 21st century American Jews have practiced Shabbat and thought about its significance in political life. Students will read a range of Jewish texts including Abraham Joshua Heschel's classic 1951 book The Sabbath, and consider them in relation to movements of contemporary radical politics that have been inspired by Sabbath traditions, including Strike Debt, reparations for African-Americans, and agonistic democratic politics.
Same as L57 RelPol 435

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 4357 The Holocaust in the Sephardic World

The course provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the Holocaust, of its impact on the Sephardic world, of present-day debates on the "globalization" of the Holocaust, and of the ways in which these debates influence contemporary conflicts between Jews, Muslims and Christians in Southern Europe and North Africa. We will turn to the history of these conflicts, and study the Sephardic diaspora by focusing on the consequences that the 1492 expulsion had within the Iberian Peninsula, in Europe, and in the Mediterranean world. We will study Sephardic communities in Europe and North Africa and their interactions with Christians and Muslims before World War II. Once we have examined the history of the Holocaust and its impact on the Sephardic world in a more general sense, our readings will focus on the different effects of the Holocaust's "long reach" into Southeastern Europe, the Balkans, and North Africa, paying close attention to interactions among Jews, local communities, and the Nazi invaders. Finally, we will address the memory of the Sephardic experience of the Holocaust, and the role of Holocaust commemoration in different parts of the world. We will approach these topics through historiographies, memoirs, novels, maps, poetry and film.
Same as L97 GS 4357

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 4366 Europe's New Diversities

Since the late 1980s, three major upheavals have transformed European senses of identity. The demise of the Soviet Union has forced citizens of new "post-socialist' nations to forge new senses of belonging and new strategies of survival. The rise of a new public presence of Islam and the growth of children of Muslim immigrants to adulthood have challenged notions that Europe is a secular or post-Christian space. Finally, the heightened authority of European institutions has challenged the nation-state from above, and the granting of new forms of subnational autonomy to regions and peoples has challenged it from below. The new Europe is increasingly constituted by way of regional identifications, transnational movement(s), and umbrella European legal and political organizations; these new realities occasion new rhetorics of secularism, nationalism, and ethnic loyalties. We examine these forms of diversity, movement, and debate by way of new works in anthropology, sociology and political science.
Same as L48 Anthro 4366

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: LCD, SSC Arch: SSC Art: SSC BU: IS EN: S

L23 Re St 4400 Religion, Politics, and the University

This course explores in depth current issues related to pluralism, difference, and belonging in matters pertaining to religion and other important issues, with a particular focus on how these play out in the university context. The instructors, John Inazu and Eboo Patel, are two of the leading national commentators on these issues. Prerequisite: Students enrolling in this class must submit a brief statement of interest to Professor John Inazu.
Same as L57 RelPol 440

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 4401 Topics in Rabbinic Texts

The course aims to introduce students to independent reading of selected rabbinic texts in the original language. We will focus on a number of topics representing the range of rabbinic discussion, including legal, narrative, and ethical issues. At the same time, we will study the necessary linguistic tools for understanding rabbinic texts. Prerequisites: HBRW 385 or HBRW 401 or instructor's permission.
Same as L74 HBRW 440

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD EN: H

L23 Re St 444 The Mystical Tradition in Judaism

What is Jewish "mysticism"? What is its relationship to the category of "religion"? Is Jewish mysticism just one form of a general phenomenon common to a variety of religious traditions or is it a specific interpretation of biblical, rabbinic, and other Jewish traditions? Taking the above questions as a starting point, this course aims at a systematic and historically contextualized analysis of a broad range of Jewish texts that are commonly classified as "mystical." (All primary texts are read in translation.) At the same time, we explore such overarching themes as: the interplay of esoteric exegesis of the Bible and visionary experiences; the place of traditional Jewish law (halakhah) within mystical thought and practice; the role of gender, sexuality, and the body in Jewish mystical speculation and prayer; the relationship between mysticism and messianism; Ashkenazic and Sephardic traditions and their mutual impact on Jewish mysticism; the "absence of women" from Jewish mystical movements; esoteric traditions of an elite vs. mysticism as a communal endeavor; and the tension between innovation and (the claim to) tradition in the history of Jewish mysticism.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH, IS EN: H

L23 Re St 446 History of Political Thought in the Middle East

This course aims to study political thought and practice in Islamic history through a close reading of a selection of primary sources in translation (and in their original language, if language proficiency is satisfactory). Particular attention will be given to historical contexts in which thoughts are espoused and texts written. We plan to examine the development of political concepts and themes as articulated in diverse literary genres (e.g., legal, theological, political) from the eighth through 13th centuries. We hope to engage various theoretical models to analyze the relationship between politics and religion and to tease out the role of power in determining sociopolitical relations, distinctions, and structures. We hope to have a better grasp on the historicity of ideas presented in timeless categories in political discourse. Advanced knowledge of Arabic preferred but not required.
Same as L75 JIMES 446

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC BU: HUM, IS

L23 Re St 4491 American Unbelief from the Enlightenment to the New Atheism

This seminar examines American secularism, humanism, and atheism from the Enlightenment forward to the present. Topics to be explored include: the tensions between secular and Christian conceptions of the republic, the civil liberties of atheists and nontheists, the battles over religion in the public schools, the culture wars over secular humanism and science, and the contemporary growth of the religiously disaffiliated or religious "nones." The course considers not only the intellectual dimensions of skeptical critiques of religion, but also the underlying politics of secularism (and anti-secularism) in a nation routinely imagined as "under God."
Same as L57 RelPol 4491

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: SSP Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 4711 Topics in Religious Studies: Gender and Religion in China

In this course, we explore the images, roles and experience of women in Chinese religions: Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and so-called "popular" religion. Topics discussed include: gender concepts, norms and roles in each religious tradition; notions of femininity and attitudes toward the female body; biographies of women in Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist literature; female goddesses and deities; and the place of the Buddhist and Daoist nun and laywoman in Chinese society. All readings are in English or in English translation. Prerequisite: senior/graduate standing. Students with no previous background in Chinese religion, literature or culture need to obtain instructor's permission before enrolling.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD

L23 Re St 479 Senior Seminar in Religious Studies

The topic for this seminar differs every year. Previous topics include Religion and Violence; Governing Religion; Saints and Society; and Religion and the Secular: Struggles over Modernity. The seminar is offered every spring semester and is required of all Religious Studies majors, with the exception of those writing an honors thesis. The class is also open, with the permission of the instructor, to other advanced undergraduates with previous coursework in Religious Studies.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, SD Arch: HUM Art: HUM BU: ETH EN: H

L23 Re St 480 Topics in Buddhist Traditions

This course focuses on a selected theme in the study of Buddhism. Please refer to the course listings for a description of the current offering.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Art: HUM BU: ETH, HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 4803 Advanced Seminar: Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan

The division of India and Pakistan at the time of Independence from British colonial rule was a major event that has left its mark on the lives, memories, and politics of contemporary South Asians. Why did British India break apart along apparently religious lines? Was sectarian or "communal" violence inevitable, or endemic in South Asian society? How was Partition - a time of violence, mistrust, dispossession, displacement, and mass migration -- experienced by ordinary people? How is the traumatic memory of this event borne by individual women, children, by families? How does its legacy persist, and how is it being remembered, and reckoned with, today? In this course, we will not find final answers to these difficult questions, but we will learn how to explore them responsibly, using literature, film, and other archival sources. This course provides students with a forum to discuss and explore topics of their own choosing.
Same as L22 History 4803

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD, SC Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 490 Topics in Islamic Thought

This course focuses on a selected theme in the study of Islam and Islamic Thought. Please refer to the course listings for a description of the current offering.

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD

L23 Re St 495 Religion and the State: Global Mission, Global Empire

This course explores the complex intersections among U.S. political power on a global stage, and religious institutions and identities. Readings and discussions are organized around two very broad questions. First: How has this nation's history been shaped by religious "others" both inside and outside its borders? Second: How have perceptions of those others in turn affected U.S. responses to circumstances of global consequence — including, for example, foreign policy and diplomacy, missionary activity, and economic practices?
Same as L57 RelPol 495

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 498 Independent Work for Senior Honors I

Investigation of a topic, chosen in conjunction with a faculty advisor, on which the student prepares a paper and is examined. Students enroll in L23 Re St 498 in the fall semester and L23 Re St 499 in the spring semester. Prerequisite: admission to the Honors Program.

Credit 3 units.

L23 Re St 499 Independent Work for Senior Honors II

Investigation of a topic, chosen in conjunction with a faculty advisor, on which the student prepares a paper and is examined. Students enroll in L23 Re St 498 in the fall semester and L23 Re St 499 in the spring semester. Prerequisite: admission to the Honors Program.

Credit 3 units.

L23 Re St 4993 Advanced Seminar in History: Women and Religion in Medieval Europe

This course explores the religious experience of women in medieval Europe and attempts a gendered analysis of the Christian Middle Ages. In it, we examine the religious experience of women in a variety of settings — from household to convent. In particular, we try to understand how and why women came to assume public roles of unprecedented prominence in European religious culture between the 12th century and the 16th, even though the institutional church barred them from the priesthood and religious precepts remained a principal source of the ideology of female inferiority.
Same as L22 History 4993

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD Arch: HUM Art: HUM EN: H

L23 Re St 49CA Advanced Seminar in History: Religion and the Secular: Critical Perspectives from South Asia

A generation ago, scholars and observers around the world felt assured that modernization would bring the quiet retreat of religion from public life. But the theory of secularization now stands debunked by world events, and a host of questions has been reopened. This course provides students with a forum to think through these issues as they prepare research papers on topics of their own choosing.
Same as L22 History 49CA

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD EN: H

L23 Re St 49JK Advance Seminar in History: Blood and Sacred Bodies: Ritual Murder and Host Desecration Accusations

This seminar follows the history of the ritual murder and Host desecration accusations from the origins in 12th- and 13th-century Europe to the 20th century. It pays close attention to the social and political functions of the narratives; their symbolic importance in Christianity’s salviric drama; attacks on such beliefs from both within and outside the community of the faithful; the suppression and decline of the ritual murder accusation; the integration of Jews into European societies in the 19th century; and the reappearance of the blood libel in the aftermath of emancipation.
Same as L22 History 49JK

Credit 3 units. A&S IQ: HUM, LCD EN: H